People migrate from their countries of origin to other economically developed countries in search of employment and better income. If they successfully arrive at the country of destination, migrants look for any kind of employment. But, overtime they change jobs that fit their qualification. They begin to earn better income and use it responsibly. They intend to send a certain proportion of it to their poor families in their home countries.
Recalling the manner in which Ethiopians could migrate from their motherland, initially they contacted the agents working for experienced smugglers. These agents deal with migrants and collect fees for their services. They demand thousands of dollars, out of which they retain a certain amount and give the rest to the smugglers. Then, the smugglers took the irregular migrants from the agents and travelled through the deserts to the border areas of the country. They used cargo trucks, vans, or camels for smuggling people through the desert areas of the country.
Most of the time, the smuggled people were packed on the trucks without knowing their destination. Upon arrival at a given location or town, they are transferred to other smugglers, who demand payment for service charges. The irregular migration from Ethiopia is mostly destined for the Gulf States. These countries looked for Ethiopian women because of their cooking skills and honesty.
A study indicated that these workers become irregular in various ways: entering through unauthorized border crossings; overstaying on temporary or tourist visas; passing with free visas for irregular employment; and being born to other irregular migrants. These migrants have repeatedly been subjected to expulsion because of their irregular status.
Simultaneously, the Ethiopian government had banned irregular migration which had the effect of temporarily stemming the flow of irregular migrants. The policy of curbing irregular migration by the employing countries has made migration dangerous and expensive. In some cases, however, receiving countries have granted pardon to a group of these migrants upon arrival.
The concerned international organizations that have been monitoring the movements of peoples in the region have identified refugees, asylum seekers, and economic migrants in the region. These groups of people may be considered as irregular migrants. Experts on irregular migration have revealed the ways in which this kind of migration takes place.
Many Ethiopians travel to the Middle East using pilgrimage visas. They enter legally, but overstay their visas and become irregular. They travelled to join their relatives who were already working there. What all these migrants have done has been not to show their passport and hide from the police.
Young Ethiopian women have left their country for the Middle East just to avoid their family pressure to get married without consent. Studies reveal that these young women faced abuse and exploitation that occurred when they went for visa and for contract work. To evade such confrontations, the young women shifted their workplace where they are treated humanely.
Regular status occurs when migrants enter legal work contracts, but become irregular if they exit their first employment contract either to escape abuse or to seek better opportunities. Some workers who terminate their contracts become regular when they get new employers. However, most remain irregular, living and working as freelancers. Migrant domestic workers may terminate their contracts and remain irregular.
Another category of irregular workers refers to those who cross the borders of the employing country and are “free” to work for any employer. Technically, this is an irregularity, and if the migrant workers are caught, they can be deported. Studies suggest that a large number of Ethiopians working in the Middle East use “free” visas. Such “free” visa is prepared by relatives of the migrant who were already living and working there. They used to work as domestic workers, but could be deported for the irregularity of documents. However, “free” visas have not been subject to high levels of monitoring by authorities.
Another type of irregularity occurred when children are born to irregular and regular domestic workers. It is revealed that pregnancy is prohibited under the regular domestic worker contract, and if a woman becomes pregnant, her employer may terminate her contract. Thus, even regular domestic workers who become pregnant often choose to become irregular. The children born under such conditions are without documentation of nationality. Thus, they may not access formal medical services or education.
The women who have children may not leave the Middle Eastern country, as they are able to take on regular employment. Studies reveal irregularity through physical border crossing from Ethiopia and other countries from the Horn. The number of migrants from the Horn of Africa is increasing with Ethiopians comprising the majority. These migrants do not wish to stay in countries bordering the Red Sea, but travel to other Gulf countries where wages are higher. However, they consider seriously the dangers of irregular migration, and the possibility of deportation.
The migrants always give priority to the objective of improving their lives and that of their families back home. Initially, the families put pressure on their children to migrate and seek employment. Naturally, the ecological and demographic pressures on the land and the lack of local employment opportunities in Ethiopia forced them to migrate. Also, the visible success of migrant friends and neighbors who migrated earlier is another strong influence of migration.
Generally, these influences have produced and re-enforced a “culture of migration.” This is associated with personal, social and material success, where migration has become the “norm” rather than the exception. In this situation, experts assert that staying back in the home country is associated with failure of the youth.
Usually, individuals who are employed abroad return to their countries for vacation and meet their relatives and friends. During such meetings, the returnees display their new clothes, and brag about the high income they earn in foreign exchange. This show of vacationers persuades friends and relative to migrate in search of jobs in the Middle East.
The huge flow of irregular migrants developed within a short period of time due to the existence of a large pool of potential migrants. These would be migrants comprised of the Ethiopian youth that lacked employment opportunities. Simultaneously, there occurred employment opportunities in the receiving Middle Eastern countries. These countries are oil rich countries that have high demand for unskilled labor. These countries have the capacity to absorb and engage irregular migrants into employment within a short period of time.
Studies reveal that other destinations for migrant Ethiopian workers are the US, Europe, and South Africa. Irregular migration from Ethiopia to the Gulf States is full of barriers to entry. These barriers are higher costs and longer and more difficult journeys. However, irregular migrants have access to their destination through clandestine border crossings. Also, the illegal migrants used the well-established migration infrastructure, the existence of relatively strong social networks, and linkages with legal migrants.
Experts observed a new strategy of migration that protects rather than endangers the lives of migrants. They also registered the tightening of border controls, particularly for “undesirable migrants” in the West. Unauthorized border crossings have become deeply politicized by developed countries. The experts insist that the terms attached to migrants, such as undocumented, irregular, clandestine, non-compliant, unauthorized, trafficked, etc., are indications of the intensely politicized nature of migration.
The concept of irregular migration as a political issue that should be controlled emerged in Ethiopia in recent years. The primary objective of the control of irregular migration is related to the “domestic” labor market and welfare. Also, control over national security increased after incidents of global terrorist activities. Experts observed that border control in developed countries is visible not only at the physical border crossing, but also in accessing employment and mobility within a country.
The second objective of “managing” irregular migration is to prosecute traffickers and smugglers, and protect their victims. Experts suggest that the law is instrumental in defining illegal migrants. They also observed that while the law is controlling the entry of “undesirable” non-citizens to the territories it may not achieve the stated objective of managing or reducing the size of irregular migrants.
The positive consequence of such a law has long been documented with regard to irregular migration to the developed countries. These migrants have been “legally vulnerable,” but they have been a cheap and exploitable pool of labor. In this regard, the prerogatives and capacities of developed countries to control the entry of non-citizens to their territories are increasingly signals of only state authority.
Such authority may not be applied when the demand for cheap labor is on the rise. Such authority may lead to border controls that may be achieved at the cost of irregular migrants. Where border policies and practices are restrictive they have led to the “stigmatization and criminalization” of irregular migrants.
Restrictive migration laws have resulted in the exposure of migrants to greater costs, risks, and higher fatalities as they engage in more perilous border crossings. The experts, who studied the irregular migration of Ethiopians to the Middle Eastern countries, argued that the trends observed were similar to patterns observed in other global irregular migrations. These countries intended to curb irregular migration, which had adverse effects on migrants in terms of cost and danger to their lives.
Experts have suggested new policies of border crossing that protect rather than endanger the lives of migrants. Studies have revealed that a large number of initially “regular” Ethiopian migrants experienced some form of irregularity at later stages of their migration. As most of the Ethiopian migrants were women that were engaged as domestic workers, they have faced immense multiple exploitation and abuse. Following these inhuman treatments, the Ethiopian government banned illegal migration to the Middle Eastern countries.
BY GETACHEW MINAS
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD THURSDAY 24 JULY 2025
