Addis Abeba — A total of 3,422 Ethiopians returned to the country over the past week from Saudi Arabia, bringing the number of citizens repatriated since September 2025 to 45,093, the Ministry of Women and Social Affairs said.
In a statement issued this week, the Ministry said the latest returnees arrived on 14 scheduled flights. The group comprised 3,337 men, 82 women, and three children. Authorities also identified 72 minors among the arrivals, underscoring the vulnerability of parts of the returning population.
The Ministry said it is working in coordination with relevant government bodies and international partner organizations to ensure returnees receive immediate assistance upon arrival. Support begins at the airport and continues at transit centers, where a reintegration process aimed at family reunification is underway.
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The current operation forms part of a large-scale repatriation initiative announced in late March 2024, under which the Ethiopian government pledged to return approximately 70,000 citizens living in what it described as "difficult conditions" in Saudi Arabia.
The decision followed discussions between Ethiopian and Saudi officials and a high-level visit to Riyadh by an Ethiopian delegation led by State Minister for Foreign Affairs Birtukan Ayano, who inspected detention centers and held talks on the protection of Ethiopian nationals.
To manage the scale of the operation, the government established a National Committee composed of 16 institutions, tasked with overseeing logistics and coordination. The committee has since facilitated between 12 and 14 repatriation flights per week.
The repatriation program was prompted by mounting reports of severe abuses against Ethiopian migrants in Saudi Arabia. An August 2023 report by Human Rights Watch documented the killing of "hundreds" of Ethiopian migrants and asylum seekers by Saudi forces between March 2022 and June 2023, describing the violence as "widespread and systematic" and warning that it may amount to crimes against humanity.
Saudi Arabia, which hosts an estimated 750,000 Ethiopian migrants, has intensified security operations in recent years targeting undocumented migrants, resulting in mass detentions and deportations. Many Ethiopians undertaking the perilous journey are fleeing poverty, conflict, and climate-related crises. According to the United Nations, the number of Ethiopians using this migration route rose by 32 percent between 2022 and 2023, reaching 96,670.
In late June 2025, Addis Standard reported that at least 37 Ethiopian men were facing the death penalty in Saudi Arabia on drug-related charges, citing a joint statement by 31 civil society and human rights organizations. The groups warned of an "imminent risk" of execution for hundreds of foreign nationals and alleged systemic violations of fair trial rights, including denial of legal counsel, lack of consular access, and the use of confessions obtained under torture.
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Concerns have also been raised by international media. A previous BBC report, citing family members of detainees held at Najran Central Prison in southwestern Saudi Arabia, said prison officials had indicated executions would take place "before the Eid al-Adha festival." The BBC reported that 47 Ethiopians had been sentenced to death, including some already executed, and noted growing anxiety among prisoners who are not informed of their execution dates.
