South African Police Rescue 44 Ethiopians from Suspected Traffickers

South African police said Thursday they had rescued 44 Ethiopian nationals, 17 of them minors, who were being held against their will in an upscale neighbourhood of Johannesburg. The incident is the latest in a string of human-trafficking cases in Africa’s most industrialised nation, a magnet for undocumented migrants from across the continent. Officers on patrol were alerted to the discovery by screams coming from the house in Sandton, spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Mavela Masondo told journalists…In March, dozens of young Ethiopian adults and children who were also allegedly held captive in a suburban house in Johannesburg escaped, with police finding 32…In January, police rescued 26 undocumented Ethiopians found naked and without documents in Johannesburg, held by suspected traffickers. Last August, more than 80 were discovered locked in a house in inhumane conditions in another suburb of the city. (AFP)