EU-IOM Joint Initiative

for Migrant Protection and Reintegration

Boys make up the largest number of child migrants in Ethiopia, with girls not migrating as much, often due to sociocultural reasons. Rather, they may be compelled into an early marriage, with labour migration usually coming only at a later stage.

In Shashogo, Hadiya zone, the numbers of migrant boys and girls are comparable, yet the destinations differ. Female migrants in this area of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples (SNNP) regional state mainly head east to the Gulf, while male migrants are likely to go south towards South Africa.

These are just a few of the findings of the report ‘A Study on Child Migrants from Ethiopia’, commissioned by the EU-IOM Joint Initiative for Migrant Protection and Reintegration in the Horn of Africa. The programme supports the voluntary return and reintegration of vulnerable migrants including children, defined as those under the age of 18. It aims to use the study’s conclusions to better tailor its activities in a country that accounts for the largest migrant movements in the region.

The migration of unaccompanied children from Ethiopia is so common that it accounts for about a fifth of those using the Eastern Route, a popular route leading to the Gulf countries via Yemen. Europe and South Africa are also major destinations for migrants in the Horn of Africa. The number of movements is significant and includes those returning their communities of origin, usually due to having run into problems either during the migration journey or at the intended destination.

Since June 2017, the EU-IOM Joint Initiative has assisted more than 8,500 returnees from various destination countries, of which 1,700 are unaccompanied migrant children.

The study refers to observable gaps in existing reintegration support mechanisms for returnee child migrants, stating that socio-economic reintegration support offered to returnee children is often short lived amid a lack of durable solutions.

“Despite the fact that child migrants are exposed to various forms of violations of rights and protection risks, the existing psychosocial support provided to returnee child migrants (by all involved) are often offered only upon arrival,” the study says. “Concerted efforts must be made to address these gaps, reinforce institutions and institutional capacity of the existing support mechanisms for reintegration of child migrants.”

The study found that the majority of Ethiopian child migrants are children with an impoverished background. The average age of child migrants ranges between 13 and 17, while in a few cases children are as young as eight-years-old migrate on their own.

Data from the six sites surveyed support the finding that children main take the decision to migrate on their own. Close to 55% of the potential child migrants and returnees argue that they make the decision to migrate or not by themselves. The next most important actor in this decision-making process are parents (22 %), friends (13 %) and relatives (10%).

The causes of child migration are multiple and not mutually exclusive, while the factors accounting for the remigration of returnee child migrants are also diverse and complex.

The push and pull factors tend to be subjective in nature and include individual, household, community and structural realities. They encompass economic factors (absolute and relative deprivation), culture of migration, geographical location, devaluation of education, natural disasters, poor service delivery, political instability, and governance issues.

The community level factors identified in the study include disinterest in rural life among the younger generation. Low performance in education and substance abuse are individual level factors for child migration. The household level factors include large family size, low household income, the migration histories of parents and family members, and family dynamics such as the divorce or death of a parent.

Other factors affecting the migration dynamics include the availability of smuggling services and accessibility to information technologies. The study also found that most returnee child migrants often resort to remigration. This is partly due to unaddressed vulnerabilities as well as the social stigma and ostracization child migrants face upon return.

The findings of the study also show that children’s journeys are rife with protection risks and exploitation. The multifaceted risks faced involve being held by criminals against their will, being forced to work without pay, anxiety due to fear of detention and deportation, living on the streets under abysmal conditions, and a lack of access to services.

The risks faced also involve those caused by traffickers and smugglers, exposing children to hazardous and exploitative situations, especially in cases where migrant children and their families incur debts to pay smugglers’ fees and requested ransoms. Furthermore, child migrants could be victims of violent crime, including sexual and gender-based violence.

 “The EU-IOM Joint Initiative programme in Ethiopia partners with public authorities and local organizations to provide reintegration assistance and follow up on the wellbeing of returnee child migrants and other vulnerable children in the community,” says Sara Basha, coordinator of the programme in Ethiopia. She said the assistance provided is tailored to the needs of the child and includes psychosocial and economic support. “Parents or guardians are also assisted with livelihood opportunities to enable them to support their children’s education.”

The study was conducted in four regional states – Oromia, Amhara, Tigray and SNNP – and one city-administration – Dire Dawa. The research was conducted in Habru district of North Wollo Zone of Amhara Region; Saesi Tsadamba district of Eastern Tigray Zone; Shashogo district of Hadiya Zone in SNNPR; Dire Dawa city administration, and two districts from Oromia (Bedeno district of East Hararghe Zone and Sigmo district of Jimma Zone).

About the EU-IOM Joint Initiative

Launched in December 2016 and funded by the European Union Emergency Trust Fund for Africa, the programme 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 that migration is safer, more informed and better governed for both migrants and their communities.

For more information please contact the IOM Regional Office in Nairobi: Julia Hartlieb, email: jhartlieb@iom.int or Wilson Johwa, email: wjohwa@iom.int.