Having deported 160,000 Ethiopians so far, Saudi Arabia has agreed to release 1,000 others who have been in prison in the Gulf state.

The Ethiopians, including 100 women have been in prison for a variety of offences, Ethiopian media said on Saturday.

The decision to release the prisoners was made following a request by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who was in Riyadh on an official visit this week.

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Hundreds of thousands of Ethiopian nationals live in the Gulf region, mostly in Saudi Arabia.

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Officials in Riyadh are in the process of deporting more than 500,000 illegal Ethiopian migrants.

So far, 160,000 have arrived back in the Horn of Africa country.