Five Ethiopians stage hunger strike in police cell, demand repatriation

Five Ethiopians have staged a hunger strike at the Shauri Moyo police cell in Nairobi demanding to be repatriated.

The group had been arrested on August 19 in the area for being in the country illegally.

They were produced in court and police were ordered to plan their repatriation.

Police said they have been working with immigration officials to ensure they send the group back to their country.

On August 26 and 27, the group refused to take their meals and announced they were on a hunger strike.

They demanded to be sent to their country as soon as possible.

Police said they had asked the immigration officials to organize the repatriation amid fears some of the foreigners were becoming weak in the cells.

Some had not taken their meals on August 28, officials said.

This is the latest such drama involving the Ethiopians who have been arrested.

Police said they are currently holding more than 100 Ethiopians in separate cells after they were arrested while in transit.

Plans are underway to take them back to their country amid complaints from the group that the conditions at the cells were bad.

Police said most aliens from Ethiopia use the Moyale route and try their luck as they head to South Africa and the Middle East oblivious of the dangers ahead.

Tens of the aliens are usually arrested in various places in the country as they wait to be moved to their next destinations. A number of them come to Kenya to seek jobs.

Officials from the Transnational Organised Crime are conducting joint operations to deal with human smuggling.

What is puzzling is how the immigrants manage to evade the roadblocks mounted by police while travelling from Moyale to Nairobi.

There are more than 20 roadblocks on the stretch, which raises the seriousness of the security agents taming the practice.

As part of efforts to deal with the menace, an Ethiopian national was last year sentenced to 31 years in prison for trafficking 12 people.