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A Study on Child Migrants from Ethiopia

Países
Etiopía
+ 4
Fuentes
IOM
Fecha de publicación
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Executive Summary

This report provides a comprehensive assessment of irregular child migration from Ethiopia based on a case study in five regions: Amhara, Oromia, Tigray, Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People’s Region (SNNPR) and Dire Dawa. The report first provides an insight into the characteristics of child migration patterns from Ethiopia, with an analysis of the socioeconomic profile of child migrants, the driving forces for irregular child migration, and the children’s migratory routes and decision-making processes.

Furthermore, the study elaborates on the vulnerabilities of unaccompanied migrant children and the various protection risks they face during their migration journeys, in countries of transit and upon arrival in the destination countries. The report also presents data on existing support mechanisms and concludes by providing recommendations for policymaking and programming to address the special protection concerns of child migrants. These recommendations cover services and activities in the areas of prevention, protection and reintegration, and suggestions for the development of an integrated multidisciplinary response to address irregular migration of unaccompanied migrant children.

Most Ethiopian child migrants come from impoverished backgrounds. The average age of child migrants is 13 to 17 years, while in a few cases, children as young as eight years migrate on their own. Most child migrants are school dropouts and come from large households.

The push and pull factors tend to be subjective and include structural, community, individual and household, and other contingent factors. These factors include economic components (absolute and relative deprivation), culture of migration, geographical location, devaluation of education, natural disasters, poor delivery of basic services, as well as political instability and governance issues. The community-level factors identified include disinterest in rural life among the younger generation, aesthetic attractions and cultural compatibility. Low performance in education, as well as addictions and substance abuse, are individual-level factors. Household-level factors include large family size, low household income, migration histories of parents and family members, and family dynamics such as divorce or death of a parent. Other contingent factors affecting migration dynamics include availability of smuggling and accessibility of information technologies. Most returnee child migrants often resort to re-migration, 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 the journeys of child migrants are rife with protection risks and exploitation. Risks faced involve being held against their will; being forced to work without pay; anxiety due to fear of detention and deportation; living on the streets; and lack of access to services. Other risks also involve trafficking networks, which expose children to hazardous situations or exploitation, especially in cases where the migrant children and their families incur debts to pay smugglers’ fees, or, if kidnapped, ransoms. Furthermore, child migrants could be victims of violent crime, including sexual and gender-based violence.

When there are few or no opportunities to move legally, children resort to irregular migration, which involves moving through dangerous routes and, often, hiring smugglers to cross borders. These routes involve several internal and international transit points. The findings indicate that most child migrants from the study sites, with the exception of Hadiya, often use the eastern route destined to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the Gulf Cooperation countries. Male child migrants from Hadiya Zone often use the southern route to head to South Africa, while female children often travel to the Middle East.

Various actors shape the decision-making process of child migration, including family, smugglers, returnee migrants, migrant family members and peers. Most child migrants conceal their migration plans to their parents except when their family members have to cover the costs of migration.

Gaps in existing reintegration support mechanisms for returnee child migrants were observed. The socioeconomic reintegration support mechanisms offered to returnee children are often short-lived and fail to bring durable solutions. Although child migrants are exposed to various forms of rights abuses and protection risks, psychosocial support is often offered only upon arrival. Concerted efforts must be made to address these gaps, reinforce institutions (namely local governmental institutions working on the reintegration of returnee child migrants and community-based organizations) and their capacity, as well as the existing support mechanisms for reintegration of child migrants.