EU-IOM Joint Initiative

for Migrant Protection and Reintegration

Munira is back from Sudan and is facing the same issues that pushed her to leave Ethiopia in the first place. But now she has a plan and is her own employer.

The 20-year-old lives in Halaba zone, in the Southern Nations Nationalities and People’s regional state (SNNPR). This is one of the country’s most migration-prone regions, along with Amhara, Tigray and Oromia reginal states.

South Africa is the primary preferred destination by many from her region. However, it is usually the men who attempt this route. Located around 800 km away from SNNPR, Sudan is among the destinations chosen by women in SNNPR, in addition to the Gulf countries through the Eastern Route (via Djibouti or Somalia).

SNNPR is among Ethiopia’s largest regions, with about 16% of the total population living there. Population growth has been putting farmland under unprecedented pressure, over the last decades. With each new generation, the size of farms, which continue to be divided among family members, has gotten smaller and smaller. This, coupled with environmental degradation and the lack of job opportunities in the region, are among the factors that lead the youth to migrate.

“My siblings and I inherited a small farmland that we divided among ourselves. Production is limited to food consumption with no surplus for the market,” said Munira’s husband Kedir.

Munira chipped in: “Our plan was for me to go to Sudan for a while and make some money that would help us have a better life and even own a house in the city.”

Migration was the couple’s main survival plan, as it still is for many others in SNNPR. The strong network with those abroad and the significant impact they make on their families back home creates the illusion of the grass always being greener outside Ethiopia.

Migrants’ remittances go into the construction of new houses, or in the purchase of additional cattle or even houses in the city. In addition, sometimes minibuses are bought for family members to engage in the public transport business.

A sign of high remittance in the region is the presence of numerous local bank branches established even in the most remote areas. It is little wonder that migration narratives dominate discussions. This includes the peculiarities of the various migratory routes, as well as the best time to travel and the most sensible way to organize the journey.

Smugglers in the region have a strong network and are accessible. Many are endowed with the gift of the garb which they deploy to paint a picture of a safe and easy journey. However, it does not take much to convince someone who has already made up their mind to emigrate.

Munira, along with her sister-in-law Semira, paid around USD1,000 each to smugglers to take them to Sudan. But the journey was not as easy as promised. They had to walk for miles through the desert and across forests.

“The smuggler crammed us in a warehouse for weeks. We did not get enough food during that time,” said Semira. “At one point, one of the girls with us was stuck and unable to open the toilet door. We were shouting and banging on the door to open it. That’s when neighbors heard us and called the police.” 

With coordination from the governments of Ethiopia and Sudan, and assistance from the EU-IOM Joint Initiative for Migrant Protection and Reintegration in the Horn of Africa, the safe return of the women was facilitated.

Back in Ethiopia, the group stayed at an IOM-managed transit centre in Addis Ababa where they were provided with orientation training, medical screening, and transportation assistance back to their community of origin.

Of the 1,292 female returnees assisted by the EU-IOM Joint Initiative programme in Ethiopia to date, 433 returned from Sudan. The rest came from Djibouti, Somalia, and Libya.

After their return to their community, Munira and Semira were consulted by the EU-IOM Joint Initiative on their reintegration needs. They preferred to make a start in the grain trade business.

 About the EU-IOM Joint Initiative

Launched in December 2016, with funding from the European Union Emergency Trust Fund for Africa, the EU-IOM Joint Initiative brings together 26 African countries of the Sahel and Lake Chad region, the Horn of Africa, and North Africa, the EU and IOM around the goal of ensuring migration is safer, more informed, and better governed for both migrants and their communities.

For more information please contact Helina Mengistu at IOM Ethiopia, email: hmengistu@iom.int; or the IOM Regional Office in Nairobi: Julia Hartlieb, email: jhartlieb@iom.int and Wilson Johwa, email: wjohwa@iom.int