EU-IOM Joint Initiative

for Migrant Protection and Reintegration

The story of Abate Rega Hailu is symbolic of many others in rural Ethiopia. The 15-year-old was forced to drop out of school after perennial crop failures and drought affected the family’s livelihoods. The family was unable to earn enough money to let him and his six siblings continue their studies. 

Abate was born and raised in Mehal Amba town in Habru district in the Amhara region. Agriculture, especially crop cultivation and animal husbandry, is the main source of livelihood for residents in Amhara, making the region very sensitive to weather changes and climate shocks. 

“Life hasn’t always been a challenge for me and my family”, he says as he recounts the ‘good old days’ when the family farm produced enough food for their consumption and a surplus to sell at the local market.

But in 2016, when El Niño effects started to impact the weather in the area, things began to change. The weather was no longer predictable. Hot days became longer, and the rains turned intermittent and violent. Crops yields plummeted, animal feed disappeared, and many animals died due to the resulting water scarcity.

The family could barely afford food, let alone other expenses such as school fees. Abate and his siblings had no choice but to drop out.  

The young boy was faced with virtually no hope of finding work in Ethiopia to assist in bolstering the family’s income. He began to engage with smugglers who promised him a job and a better life in Saudi Arabia. Like many before him, who did not have many options, he followed the smugglers’ plan. Abate left his village to start the precarious journey to Yemen. After two back-breaking weeks, he arrived in Hayu, Djibouti.

It was there that reality struck, and he realized that the journey to Saudi Arabia was not possible.

Smugglers demanded a large sum of money to help him cross the Red Sea. Abate and other exhausted migrants could not raise the money and decided to seek assistance from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), through its Migrant Resource Centre (MRC) in Obock, Djibouti. 

The MRC is part of the EU-IOM Joint Initiative for Migrant Protection and Reintegration in the Horn of Africa. Through the programme, IOM provides Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration to migrants who are stranded along the main migratory routes. The support focuses on both facilitating the migrants’ safe return and providing individual assistance upon arrival, as well as successful reintegration into their communities of origin.

Abate was assisted with a flight ticket back to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and local transport fare back to his rural home in Habru Woreda (District), as well as a reintegration package to facilitate his smooth re-entry into his community. He has now been back in his village for one- and-a-half-years. With encouragement from the IOM team through counselling and income from a cash-for-work programme, he has also re-enrolled in school to continue his secondary education and is part of the community reintegration project currently implemented by the IOM partner organization, Mekanayesus (EECMY DASSC), in Habru. 

Under the EU-IOM Joint Initiative, returnees are presented with several reintegration options including starting a micro-business. Abate plans to open an entertainment business and is waiting for the delivery of a pool table and other equipment he has procured. 

Other types of interventions build the capacities of farming communities to cope with climate change and improve food security in order to enhance the returnees’ skills and provide opportunities for adaptation. Such interventions also help minimize expected losses from climate change by diversifying income options for vulnerable communities so that they are no longer solely reliant on rain-fed agriculture.

The EU-IOM Joint Initiative is also assisting Abate’s community to rehabilitate degraded lands. Local communities are being capacitated to adapt to the adverse effects of climate change through various programmes, such as reforestation, flood control, and water harvesting.

As a beneficiary of the community reintegration project, Abate has planted grafted apple and mango on his own small farm. This will allow him to support his family and secure an additional long-term income. He is also one of the cash-for-work community members who is actively involved in the activities of the project. These involve planting natural indigenous trees, hillside-terracing, trenching, mulching and weeding activities.

Abate is also participating in the psychosocial reintegration activities organized through the community project, which included a local soccer tournament. He is a good football player and aspires to play for a big club and to represent his country. The games have created a conducive environment for young and old people to socialize. 

Abate is full of hope for the future and is convinced that he would not consider migrating irregularly again. He is looking forward to the successful opening of his business and hopes to provide jobs for unemployed youth who find themselves in the same position he was before he made the decision to migrate. He is expecting to finish secondary school and to develop his career in football.