GAROWE–Authorities in Somalia’s self-declared autonomous region of Puntland have begun deporting thousands of of Ethiopian migrants, officials told. Puntland has so far repatriated 2000 Ethiopian migrants and according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) facilitated their safe repatriation. Most of the returnees were caught in an unprecedented operation aimed at sending Ethiopian migrants in Puntland back to Ethiopia. It is said that poverty and economic hardships are pushing most of Ethiopian migrants travelling to the Middle East by risking their lives using illegal human traffickers. The traffickers use Puntland as gateway for the Ethiopian migrants to travel to Yemen, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States