Economic Reintegration of Ethiopian Women Returned from the Middle East
| Author | Beza L. Nisrane,Ann Morissens,Ariana Need,René Torenvlied |
| Published date | 01 December 2017 |
| Date | 01 December 2017 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/imig.12358 |
Economic Reintegration of Ethiopian Women
Returned from the Middle East
Beza L.Nisrane*, Ann Morissens**, Ariana Need* and Ren
e Torenvlied*
ABSTRACT
Current migration studies and policy reviews neglect the vital link between migration experi-
ences of labour migrants and their return and reintegration process. The objective of this study
is to highlight the phenomenon and bring the matter to policy makers’attention. This study
uses in-depth interviews and a series of focus group discussions to explore the relationship
between migration experiences and economic reintegration of unskilled Ethiopian women who
are return migrants from Middle Eastern countries. Economic reintegration, which in its basic
form is about securing a livelihood, is a challenge for most returnees. The reason relates to the
migration settings, preparedness and reintegration assistance in the home county. Reintegration
assistance for involuntary returnees is beneficial only for those who manage to obtain some
savings out of their migration. The findings imply the need for policy improvements regarding
the working conditions of female domestic workers in the host countries and reintegration pro-
grammes in the home countries.
INTRODUCTION
Ethiopia is one of the largest sending countries of female domestic workers to Middle Eastern
countries (De Regt, 2010). About 1,500 girls were estimated to leave each day to the Middle East
before the Ethiopian government banned all work-related movement through official channels in
2013. The ban was installed after the reported abuse and exploitation of Ethiopian women in the
destination countries (Jones et al., 2014). Unfortunately, the ban did not stop the movement but
rather caused an increase in the number of women leaving through illegal channels. On the other
hand, the return and reintegration of these migrants into the socio-economic context of their coun-
try did not get any attention until the expulsion of about 160,000 Ethiopian irregular migrants from
Saudi Arabia following the Arab spring. Both the Ethiopian government and local and international
NGOs responded to the problem and provided reintegration assistance for the returnees. The assis-
tance included psychological counselling programmes; vocational training in various areas such as
cooking, hairdressing, urban agriculture like poultry raising and producing construction materials
for six to eight weeks; work sheds; credit facilities; and health care for those who were traumatised
(De Regt & Tafesse, 2015). The influence of reintegration assistance and migration experiences on
the reintegration process of return migrants is significant (Ruben et al., 2009). However, little is
known as to how these factors affect the return and reintegration process of unskilled domestic
workers. By analysing the lived experience of female return migrants from the Middle East, this
study answers the following two questions: a) How do past migration experiences under the kafala
* University of Twente, The Netherlands
** University College Leuven-Limburg, Belgium
doi: 10.1111/imig.12358
©2017 The Authors
International Migration ©2017 IOM
International Migration Vol. 55 (6) 2017
ISS N 00 20- 7985 Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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