Irregular Migration from Ethiopia to the Gulf States

Migrants from Ethiopia to the Gulf States become irregular in five ways: entry through unauthorised border crossings,“overstayers”on temporary or tourist visas, entry through “free visas,” through irregular employment, and at birth, when children are born to irregular migrants. This chapter seeks to critically examine recent policy developments that have impacted irregular migration from Ethiopia to the Gulf States, particularly Saudi Arabia. In October 2013, the Ethiopian government instituted a “temporary” ban on all migration to the Middle East, a ban that continues to date. This was widely considered a pre-emptive response to the imminent expulsion of over 163,000 undocumented Ethiopian migrants from Saudi Arabia in November 2013, after the expiry of an amnesty for undocumented labour migrants to correct their status. While the Ethiopian government ban and the Saudi crackdown had the effect of temporarily stemming the flow of irregular migrants across the Horn of African to Yemen during the early months of 2014, by the end of the year, there was a 40% increase in the number of irregular migrants reaching Yemen by boat, with the probable intention of moving on to Saudi Arabia to seek work. Around 80% (72,000) of these migrants are Ethiopian, and a significant number of them are circular migrants, including those who are returning after being deported. This chapter argues that the trends observed here are similar to patterns observed in other parts of the world; Ethiopian and Saudi Arabian policies intended to curb irregular migration have clearly had converse effects, and this is at the cost of migrants’ journeys becoming more dangerous and expensive. The chapter calls for a new politics of migration that protects rather than illegalises and endangers the lives of migrants