Deadline for immigrants' departure extended

The deadline imposed by the Djibouti government for thousands of illegal immigrants to leave the country has been extended by two weeks, a local journalist told IRIN on Monday. Djibouti Interior Minister Abdiqadir Du'ale Wa'ays last month warned illegal immigrants to leave by the end of August or face expulsion. "The government has extended the deadline for an extra 15 days," the journalist said. "All immigrants are now expected to leave by 15 September." He said about 42,500 illegal immigrants had left of their own accord over the last four weeks, to beat the deadline. "Those caught after the new deadline will be put in transit camps and then deported to their countries and risk not being allowed to take anything with them," he noted. On Monday, Wa'ays acknowledged there had been problems associated with the immigrants' departure. "We are aware that several people wishing to voluntarily return to their homes are not able to depart, either because they were not able to travel by train or road, given the fact that trains and buses were fully booked, or because they had not adequately prepared themselves to leave before the deadline expired," he said, according to the Djibouti news agency ADI. According to the journalist, the government extended the deadline due to lack of adequate transportation and requests from neighbouring countries "to give people more time". "There were long lines of people in the train station and no trains to carry them," he said. The crackdown on illegal immigrants - who mainly come from Somalia, Ethiopia and Yemen - is thought to be motivated by pressure from "western governments which have a military presence in the country", he added. US, French, Spanish and German forces are based in Djibouti as part of the global fight against terrorism. Many of the immigrants were working as domestic workers, gardeners and day labourers.