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Interview: How the EU is shaping migration policy in Ethiopia

The EU has an interest in ensuring refugees settle in Ethiopia rather than seeking asylum in Europe and spends millions on this and other migration aims, says researcher Kiya Gezahegne. But what impact is this having on Ethiopia’s domestic migration politics and on migrants themselves?
Alice Troy-Donovan

Background photo: Kiya Gezahegne

The impact of EU migration policy now stretches far beyond the Union’s actual territorial borders, with billions of euros invested in efforts to control and curb mobility from and between African and Middle Eastern states – also known as border ‘externalisation’. Such initiatives are profoundly impacting the lives of migrants themselves as well as entire political and policy-making landscapes within the countries from which they move.

Emigration from Ethiopia has risen dramatically in recent years, while the country serves as a central hub for people journeying across the Horn of Africa, particularly migrants from Eritrea and Somalia aiming to reach Europe and other northern destinations. This makes Ethiopia an important partner country for the EU, which has invested over 330 million euros since 2016 in projects addressing what it calls the ‘root causes of displacement and irregular migration’ within and from Ethiopia.

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Kiya Gezahegne is a lecturer in Social Anthropology at Addis Ababa University (Ethiopia). Her research includes ethnographic work on Ethiopian migrants in the Middle East, livelihoods at the Ethiopia-Sudan border, and the link between migration and poverty in Ethiopia.

These initiatives form part of a broader Emergency Trust Fund for the Horn of Africa, which seeks to curb and manage mobility throughout the region. Trust Fund projects in Ethiopia range from so-called ‘information campaigns’ aiming to educate migrants on the risks associated with irregular migration, to training on border management for government staff and security forces.

In this interview we speak with Kiya Gezahegne, a researcher on the interdisciplinary project Effects of Externalisation: EU Migration Management in Africa and the Middle East (EFFEXT), about how the EU is externalising its borders into Ethiopia. The EFFEXT project explores how the EU’s external borders are managed and maintained, and the impact this has on policy-making in six case countries: Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Senegal, Ghana and Ethiopia. DIIS researchers Ida Savio Vammen and Hans Lucht are also involved in the project.
 

What are the EU's aims in relation to Ethiopia’s migration policy?

Most migration which originates from Ethiopia itself is actually directed towards the Middle East and other African countries (particularly South Africa), not to Europe. However, I believe the EU is interested in curbing transit migration through Ethiopia. This might mean, for example, ensuring Eritrean refugees can settle here safely, rather than moving on (possibly towards European states). These EU-driven priorities have very much been reflected in the direction of Ethiopia’s migration policy so far.

We do already have some migration related policies which specifically target the so-called trafficking and smuggling industries. The criminalisation of people working in the industry of migrant transportation is certainly heavily influenced by EU agendas, particularly the illegalisation of various forms of migration. While on paper the EU and other international actors tend to promote what they term ‘safe, legal migration’ (and it’s common to see a human rights perspective emerging in relation to refugees in particular), in practice both EU policy and national Ethiopian policy currently aim to restrict mobility.

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Photo: Kiya Gezahegne

Migration has become a key priority for the EU. But what about in Ethiopian domestic politics – is it an important topic?

Not at all. Migration is seen as a life option: if something doesn’t work in the country, then you can try to leave. We don’t have a public debate about migration which focuses on the impact it might have on the country. Rather, we tend to hear about migration in the context of human rights violations of Ethiopians in other countries, such as the Gulf states. This is initiated by migrants who use social media to put pressure on the government to provide protection to Ethiopian migrants in the Middle East or in South Africa. We don’t hear about migration at all when it comes to elections. Usually, migration discussions are driven by external partners like the EU – for example, if there is funding or donor interest in a certain area related to mobility.

Could you tell us what the EU is already doing in Ethiopia in relation to migration?

There are many different programmes and projects the EU has been involved in here: capacity building of institutions and structures involved in migration management, awareness raising campaigns to inform migrants of the risks and vulnerabilities migrants face when taking an irregular migration route, support developing legal frameworks or regulations on migration and cross-border mobility. The focus most often has been on irregular migration management.

What kind of impact do you think these projects are having?

When you have a policy or project which isn’t driven by the ‘receiving’ country there is an inevitable mismatch in terms of what is needed and what is implemented. That’s what we are seeing in the case of Ethiopia. A lack of understanding of local and national contexts on the part of the EU is key: we have 11 regions each with different administrative jurisdictions, so we cannot have a policy or programme that works for Ethiopia as a whole country.  

One example of this is at the Sudan border, one of the implementation areas for the EU’s Better Migration Management project. One type of activity delivered under that project is so-called ‘awareness creation’ campaigns which attempt to inform people of the risks of irregular migration, ultimately persuading them to stay put. Of course, in a border area between Ethiopia and Sudan people are already highly aware of these issues. They are part of communities which regularly move back and forth across the border. So we have to be attentive to what communities in different geographical positions actually need: what is needed at the borders and what is needed at the centre of the country may be completely different. 

Ethiopia is facing a violent conflict which has escalated since its start in late 2020. How is this crisis affecting migration from and within the country?

Millions of people, mainly women and children, have been displaced from their locality and many more, particularly from Tigray, have applied for asylum in neighbouring countries. In the early months of 2021, there were over 2.7m internally displaced people (IDPs) in Ethiopia, and this number has continued to rise with the escalation of the conflict over the past five months. The Ethiopian government is asking concerned bodies and citizens to provide emergency support to IDPs. Although there are no reliable statistics that show if there are any changes in the number of refugees and migrants leaving Ethiopia as a result of the conflict, the situation has highlighted the need for a better system to deal with forced displacement – an issue which has been neglected in Ethiopia’s national legal frameworks and policies.

Why is it important to study EU external migration policy in Ethiopia in the current moment?

Aside from the impact of the crisis, Ethiopia is currently developing a distinct policy area focused on migration. Historically, we have only had one for refugees (Ethiopia hosts a large refugee population, with over 800,000 refugees residing in the country in 2020 according to data from the World Bank). The conflict has highlighted the dire need for this given the sudden huge numbers of IDPs in Ethiopia. It’s important to study how the development of this policy is being shaped by external pressures and interests beyond Ethiopia as well, especially from the EU.

 

Hans Lucht
Migration and global order
Head of unit, Senior researcher
Ida Vammen
Migration and global order
Senior Researcher
+45 32698707