EU-IOM Joint Initiative

for Migrant Protection and Reintegration

Daniel’s shop stands not too far from where his friend, Mesfin, runs a small woodworking workshop. Not apparent from their daily routines is that the two Ethiopian migrant returnees fit the age-old description of those who have lived to tell the tale.

This is because they spent two years locked-up in Zambia, among the transit countries for the overland journey to South Africa. “We each paid USD4,000 to smugglers who promised to help us reach South Africa,” said Mesfin, who was 24-years-old when, along with Daniel, he left his home in the Southern Nations Nationalities and People’s (SNNP) regional state.

Almost 4,000 km into their journey on what is also known as the Southern Route, Zambian police officers found them, together with other migrants, crammed in a smuggler’s warehouse.

“We spent two dreadful years in detention. Condition were terrible,” Daniel recalled. “There was almost no food and clothes to change. Sanitation was also a huge problem with no proper toilet. What was worse was the lack of space in the cell, and hardly enough air. We spent the night sitting almost on another.”

That was until they were contacted by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) through the EU-IOM Joint Initiative for Migrant Protection and Reintegration in the Horn of Africa (the EU-IOM Joint Initiative).

SNNP is among Ethiopia’s regions prone to irregular migration, together with Amhara, Tigray and Oromia regional states. South Africa is the preferred destination for many young people in SNNPR, thus Mesfin and Daniel had ventured on a well-established journey. This is due to the existing strong networks with the many Ethiopians from the area who have settled in South Africa. They have a strong influence on the youth back home, enough for them to convince their parents to sell whatever assets they may have, in addition to choking up on debt so they can spend as much as USD5,500 on smugglers.

Those who make the journey to survive hunger, abuse by smugglers and detention. Last year, 14 out of 78 Ethiopians en-route to South Africa were lucky to come out alive when the authorities in Mozambique opened a near air-less containerized vehicle in Mozambique’s Tete province.

Staff from the EU-IOM Joint Initiative coordinated with the governments of Ethiopia and Zambia for Daniel and Mesfin’s safe return to Ethiopia.

The programme supported them with post arrival assistance at an IOM-managed transit centre in Addis Ababa where they received medical screening, psychosocial support, medical assistance and onward transportation assistance back to their community of origin. 

With further support from the EU-IOM Joint Initiative, the two are making a living running their small businesses. “I started my business with USD 1,000 in capital and business has almost tripled. I support my family and send my children to school,” said Daniel. He is in the flour trade and also distributes soft drinks in Duna district.

Mesfin supplies the same district with construction materials, such as wooden doors, windows, and furniture. The business has now created job opportunities for the three other persons who work for him.

“Whenever we have the chance, we always tell the youth in our community about our experience and the risks of irregular migration,” said Mesfin. Among those who have taken the message to heart is his brother Yibeltal.

“When my brother (Mesfin) left for South Africa, I had it in my plan to follow his path. But learning about the horrible experiences he endured, I totally changed my mind. I pursued my education and now I am in grade 12,” Yibeltal said.

Mesfin is now married and has a son, whose name is ‘Frehiwot’, which loosely translates to “fruit of life”, a tribute to being lucky during his ordeal on the Southern Route.  

Since June 2017, the EU-IOM Joint Initiative programme has assisted about 8,000 returnees in Ethiopia with post-arrival assistance and further needs-based economic, social, and psychosocial reintegration assistance in their communities of origin.

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