ADDIS ABABA, June 10 (Xinhua) -- The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has announced its plan to repatriate 900 Ethiopian migrants from conflict-torn Yemen's Marib province aboard "voluntary humanitarian flights."
In a press statement late Thursday, the IOM said the first 150 of the Ethiopian migrants were returned on Thursday.
Several more such flights are planned to return the remaining 750 Ethiopian migrants home, it said.
An estimated 4,500 migrants are now stranded in Marib province, unable to cross dangerous frontlines to reach their intended destinations, the IOM statement said, adding that a significant portion of the 4,500 migrants are being held against their will by human traffickers.
Yemen has been mired in a civil war since late 2014 when Houthi militia seized control of several northern provinces and forced the government out of the capital, Sanaa.
The IOM said recently that it needs 7.5 million U.S. dollars to support thousands of stranded migrants to voluntarily return from Yemen to Ethiopia.
