Djibouti extends refugee deadline

Refugees are being transported to a camp in southern Djibouti

Djibouti has extended the deadline for illegal immigrants to leave the country by two weeks.

The news came as thousands of immigrants used any means of transport to try to get out of the country before the previous deadline of Sunday.

The immigrants, mainly Ethiopians and Somalis, have been told by authorities they must leave the country for "security" and "economic" reasons.

The United States has been using Djibouti - strategically located on the Horn of Africa - as a base to collect intelligence on the al-Qaeda network.

No further time limit will be granted after 15 September Interior Minister Abdulkader Dualeh Wais War on terror Africa-style

Warnings by Washington of possible attacks on Western interests in the country are thought to have led the government to clamp down on the foreigners.

"No further time limit will be granted after 15 September," Interior Minister Abdulkader Dualeh Wais told journalists.

Illegal immigrants wishing to apply for asylum have been streaming into a camp set up by the United Nations refugee agency at Aour-Aoussa, in the south of the country.

"The asylum seekers are largely Somalis who can't go back to their home territory because of the conflict and instability there," a Djiboutian official said.

Economic impact

Illegal immigrants who did not leave would be deported, government spokesman Ali Ahmed Koulet told the BBC.

On Saturday, 1,000 Ethiopians - of the 30,000 expected by the Ethiopian authorities - arrived in Dire Dawa.

"Both young and old Ethiopians arrived carrying small possessions," a Dire Dawa official said.

Thousands of refugees are also passing through the town of Lowya-ado to reach the self-proclaimed republic of Somaliland.

The economic impact of the departure of so many immigrants is already being felt.

Maids, cooks, cleaners, security guards and car washers are now impossible to find while shops and bakeries are short staffed. Street food vendors have lost much of their clientele.

The interior ministry is urging Djibouti nationals to take up the jobs vacated by the foreigners but they are demanding double the wages.

There are 1,500 United States soldiers in Djibouti as part of regional counter-terrorism efforts. The country also hosts 2,700 French military personnel, as well as 800 German and 50 Spanish troops.