UK, Ethiopia unite to tackle human smuggling

By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal

LONDON (AA) - The U.K. and Ethiopia will work closely on a series of measures to curb human smuggling from the eastern African country, the British government announced on Friday.

According to the new initiative, British embassy staff in Addis Ababa will provide training to Ethiopian immigration officials in a bid to tackle human smuggling.

The embassy, which has already worked closely with Ethiopian Airlines by providing its staff with regular training at Bole International Airport, will aim “to make Ethiopia a secure and difficult place for traffickers as well as to tackle the irregular flow of migration to the U.K.”

Britain is also planning to provide “regular capacity building training to increase immigration and airline officials’ skill sets” to fight human smuggling, a British government statement read.

“The officers will be trained in ways of identifying people who try to travel with forged visas and travel documents,” it added.

The cooperation between British and Ethiopian governments will also “enforce strict rules to combat human trafficking which will include interception and prosecution of traffickers in Ethiopia”.

“With these efforts, Ethiopian Immigration and Ethiopian Airlines Officials were able to stop illegal passengers and facilitators traveling through Bole International Airport.”

The British embassy and Ethiopian Airlines intercepted over 160 cases of illegal migration last year.