The Winding Journey Back Home

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia - At the beginning of 2023, Yonas Adisu, a 33-year-old man from Gondar town, Northern Ethiopia, left for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) fleeing conflict which had erupted in his hometown. Getting a safe haven and a reliable income was all that was on his mind when he fled Ethiopia.

A local smuggler he met in Gondar promised Yonas a smooth journey through Djibouti and Yemen, saying he would arrive in KSA in a few days. The smuggler also assured him he would easily find a well-paying job as soon as he arrived and would earn a lot of money in a short time.

As the icing on the cake, Yonas was told he did not need to pay anything in advance. It was an offer he could not refuse. However, what he encountered after crossing the Ethiopian border into Djibouti was a different story.

“We crossed through the Djibouti desert and waited for a couple of weeks for a boat ride to Yemen,” the young man says, recalling how he left for Yemen. “We were beaten and pressured to pay up before boarding the boat. Then we were shackled onto a leaky boat for the sea journey to Yemen.”

Yet Yonas was still ambitious to cross over and arrive at the promised green pasture in KSA. He had to further endure thirst as he walked through the desert in Yemen while eluding traffickers who prey on migrants like him.

Yonas came across compatriots intercepted by traffickers and tortured to extort money from them. Many migrants had to convince their families back home to wire a hefty amount of money for their release. Those who could not get the money were beaten badly and, fortunately, he did not go through that ordeal. 

He is among the thousands of Ethiopians who have traveled irregularly on the Eastern migration route to the Gulf States.

“We had to walk long distances in the scorching heat for days with not much to eat. It was very draining and dehydrating, and we had to leave behind those who could not carry on,” Yonas said, sharing his grim experience.

During this journey he saw decomposing dead bodies on the roadside, a reminder of what would happen to him if he fell behind.

“Some migrants are beaten so badly by traffickers that they are left with major body injuries, with many unfortunate ones perishing,” Yonas described, with tears filling up his eyes. “I witnessed almost a hundred dead bodies and many migrants who walked away with broken limbs”.

Luckily, Yonas survived his journey and was repatriated to Ethiopia from KSA. Reflecting on his ordeal, he is glad to be back in his country in good health. When the security situation in his hometown improves, he is eager to return to his old life as a driver of a three-wheel taxi, popularly known as bajaj.

His compatriot, Mohamed Assefa is another fortunate returnee. This young man fled the conflict in the Amhara region “It has been 14 months since I left Ethiopia. I had to flee as the conflict was approaching my university."

“We witnessed a lot of hardships along the Eastern route and we saw raping, killings, detention and extortion; it was very difficult,” says the young man who was a student at Woldiya University in North Wollo, Amhara.

He has seven siblings and says, “I hope my family is doing well and the ongoing conflict has not reached them.” Mohammed also hopes to return home to complete his studies.

These young men are among Ethiopian migrant returnees whom IOM was able to support through a donation received from the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief). The funding allowed IOM to provide essential non-food items and emergency shelter to migrants returning to Ethiopia from the Eastern route, and to raise awareness on the realities of irregular migration as well as regular migration pathways among people living in communities of high irregular migration and migrant returnees.

For further information, please contact Alemayehu Seifeselassie at IOM Ethiopia, Tel: +251.11. 6611117 (Ext. 455), Mobile: +251.91.163-9082 Email: salemayehu@iom.int