Attachments
Executive summary
Background
Children on the move in Ethiopia exist in a wide array of migrant categories, ranging from refugees, internally displaced persons (IDPs) and asylum-seekers, to youth seeking better economic, educational and/or social opportunities, as well as those who are trafficked. Children may travel with their parents and/or caregivers, with some eventually becoming separated from them, or they may be unaccompanied throughout the journey (the latter two categories termed collectively as “unaccompanied and separated children” (UASCs)). They may move internationally, to seek these opportunities in other countries, or internally, most commonly in the form of rural-to-urban migration.
Ethiopia is a country of origin and transit, with migration out of the country often proceeding through the following routes:
(a) Eastern (onwards, through Djibouti and then Yemen, to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf States);
(b) Southern (through Kenya and the United Republic of Tanzania, primarily towards South Africa);
(c) Western, also known as the Central Mediterranean Route (through the Sudan and Libya, towards Europe). (IOM, 2021)
The Eastern Route is the busiest out of the Horn of Africa and is commonly taken by both accompanied and unaccompanied children. In 2022, unaccompanied migrant children who journeyed along this route numbered around 14,900, representing 37.5 per cent of all such children tracked during the year and which was double the number (7,300) in 2021 (IOM, 2023c). The migration routes taken by children on the move often involve several stopovers of varying durations where children face protection risks that range from arbitrary arrest and/or detention; human trafficking for purposes of forced labour and/or sexual exploitation; sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV); physical abuse, which may include attacks and/or torture; extortion; and discrimination.
Stakeholders in all study locations highlighted an increase in the number of local children migrating elsewhere within Ethiopia during the last decade, citing that the breadth and necessity of migration had intensified due to escalating conflicts in the prior two years and had additionally triggered movements from rural to urban areas. Against this backdrop, monitoring migration remains a challenge. Continuous efforts are needed to enhance the currently weak data collection and analysis, which may put a strain on the already limited capacities of the Government to identify, reach out to and respond with support to protect children on the move, particularly those migrating outside of the humanitarian context. There is limited evidence across all types of migration experiences, including migration for domestic work, which hampers efforts to adequately address child migration and protect children.
An interplay of several factors likely accounts for the increase in child migration within Ethiopia. Certain key drivers were reported by research participants across all research sites during primary data collection and echoed the findings of recent studies in the field of child protection. These drivers include broader structural factors, such as conflict, the effects of climate change (e.g. drought), barriers to accessing education and poverty, as well as household- and community-level factors, including a large family size, violence and abuse in families, a culture of migration reinforced by relatives who have already migrated, harmful practices such as child marriage, and peer pressure. A general culture of migration that includes the widespread practice and acceptance of child labour as a survival strategy, as well as a degree of normalization of migrant smuggling and trafficking, additionally contributes to child migration in Ethiopia. These drivers or factors are mutually reinforcing, increasing the vulnerability of children and their exposure to unsafe and risky migration.