Ethiopia's foreign ministry says it will begin repatriating about 2,000 migrants stranded in Saudi Arabia from next week.

The announcement comes after a UK-based newspaper, The Telegraph, reported that hundreds, if not thousands, of Ethiopian migrants had been locked up in squalid conditions in detention centres in Saudi Arabia to curb the spread of coronavirus.

Conditions were so appalling that people were dying of heatstroke, disease or by taking their own lives, it reported.

The Telegraph also reported that a leaked document, with the stamp of the Ethiopian consulate in the city of Jeddah, warned Ethiopians of “legal repercussions” if they continued to upload photos and videos from the detention centres on social media.

The foreign ministry denied it had refused to help the stranded migrants, but said it was constrained by resources.

It blamed human traffickers for the migrants' plight.

The authorities thanked Saudi Arabia for assisting the migrants and for its willingness to assist in the repatriation process.