 |
Ibsa
Mohamed, a student from Oromia, paid a smuggler to take him to Yemen but has
been left stranded in Djibouti
|
Many
are trying to reach Saudi Arabia via Yemen, while thousands of others head for
South Africa, Israel and Europe, crossing deserts and seas and placing their
lives in the hands of smugglers who often have little regard for their
well-being.
Most
of the migration from Ethiopia is undocumented, so accurate numbers are hard to
come by, but the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) reported in 2010 that in Yemen alone
nearly 35,000 of newly arrived migrants were Ethiopians, accounting for
two-thirds of all new arrivals that year. Between January and October 2011,
almost 52,000 Ethiopians made their way to Yemen.
Refugees
from Somalia follow similar routes, often using the same smugglers, but their
reasons for undertaking these dangerous journeys are more apparent: Somalia has
been plagued by armed conflict for nearly two decades and is now in the midst
of a famine.
Ethiopia
is not engaged in a civil war, and although parts of the country have been hard
hit by drought, it is one of the world’s largest recipients of development aid.
However, it also has one of Africa’s largest populations - an estimated 75
million - with a growing rate of youth unemployment and a shortage of job
opportunities.
“The
main reason people migrate from Ethiopia to Yemen is because of need - they go
there [Saudi Arabia] to earn money,” said Daud Elmi, 28, who left his village
of Lafaisa in eastern Ethiopia to find work in Saudi in 2006.
Instead,
he spent a year in a refugee camp in Djibouti, and another three months in a
camp in Yemen, avoiding arrest by claiming to be a refugee from Somalia. After
failing to earn enough money to cross into Saudi Arabia, he finally returned
home.
 |
JIJIGA,
Abdirizak Mohamed Mohamoud, 30, returned to his home village of Lafaisa, in the
Jijiga zone of eastern Ethiopia, six months ago, after his attempt to reach
Europe and a better life turned into an ordeal. He talked to IRIN, as well as a
roomful of curious neighbours and friends, about his experiences as a migrant
in Libya
|
Tagel
Solomon, coordinator of irregular migration programmes at the International Organization
for Migration (IOM), confirmed that Ethiopians usually migrate in search of
economic opportunities.
Most
are young men like Kadar Mowlid Mahamoud, 23, who teaches English and computer
skills. He set off from Lafaisa in 2008, “seeking a better life” in Europe, but
was lucky to make it through Somaliland, a self-declared state on the Gulf of
Aden, and Yemen. He ran out of water near the Saudi Arabian border and resorted
to drinking his own urine, only to be robbed at knifepoint shortly after crossing.
He
eventually found casual labour on construction sites in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s
capital, and during the 18 months he spent there managed to save a little
money. But after being severely injured in a car accident, his savings were
wiped out by the hospital bill and he decided it was time to go home. He turned
himself in to the authorities and was deported in October 2010.
Most
Ethiopians who leave the country are classified as economic migrants and do not
qualify for the protection and assistance that refugees receive, but a 2011
study of migration from the Horn of Africa to Yemen by the Danish Refugee
Council, notes that “a significant percentage fall in a grey zone that involves
elements of economic migration brought on by political and economic
oppression”.
Interviews
with new arrivals in Yemen reveal that certain ethnic groups are harassed and
suffer discrimination by local government officials in Ethiopia because of
their perceived allegiance to rebel armed groups such as the Oromo Liberation
Front (OLF), the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) and even established
opposition parties like the Oromo People’s Congress.
Earlier
this year, Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported that the authorities were carrying
out mass arrests of ethnic Oromo Ethiopians, whom they alleged were members of
the banned OLF. The Danish Refugee Council report said 47 percent of new
Ethiopian arrivals registered in Yemen in 2010 were of Oromo ethnicity.
“You
don’t even have to be an OLF sympathiser - any form of communication with
someone who might have a link with the OLF could be enough to get you arrested,
and this is what is very worrying,” Laetitia Bader, a researcher with HRW, told
IRIN.
New
Ethiopian arrivals interviewed in Yemen also confirmed the findings of a 2010
HRW report that ethnic groups such as the Oromos tend to have less access to
international aid through donor-supported programmes, jobs and educational
opportunities.
“Oromos
are always linked to the Front,” said a 24-year-old woman quoted in the report.
“As Oromos we can’t get work or an education. They [the government] will not
allow us to develop.”
Root
causes
Solomon
of IOM said the activities of smugglers and their agents have driven up
migration from Ethiopia. “Smugglers come to villages and tell people they’ll
get jobs [in the Middle East] and it’s relatively easy,” he told IRIN. “There
have been a number of arrests as part of a government effort to crack down on
this network, but there is a lot of money involved.”
Local
stories of success or failure can be even more persuasive than the smugglers.
In Lafaisa, one man is rumoured to have made it to Malta and to be sending
money home to his family, but more common are stories like that of Abdirizak
Mohamed Mohamoud, who set off for Italy but spent seven months in various
Libyan jails, and another 18 months trying to earn enough money simply to get
home.
Failed
attempts to migrate can be financially devastating for a household that has
pooled its resources and even sold property to raise the cash for smugglers’
fees. Mohamoud said he would not try again and discouraged others from making
the same mistake. “I’m an example for my village,” he told IRIN. “If I had
succeeded, all the others would have gone.”
Yet
cautionary tales are not enough to counter the root causes of Ethiopia’s
exodus, and even a negative personal experience often does not deter people
from trying again.
IOM
is running a project in the Oromia Zone of Amhara in Ethiopia to reduce
migration by not only raising awareness of the risks, but by supporting
income-generating schemes, and providing youth training.
No
such programme exists in Lafaisa and Mahamoud still wants to go to Europe. “I
will wait until the demonstrations [in Yemen] are over, then I’ll go back,” he
told IRIN, adding that he advises his students to do the same.
“I
have no future in Ethiopia,” he said. “I’ve seen Europe on TV, and it’s
better.”
No comments:
Post a Comment