The UN migration agency said in its latest Ethiopia Crisis Response Plan that between January and October 2022, IOM registered over 100,000 returning migrants to Ethiopia, with the majority — more than 71,000 — coming from Saudi Arabia.
The IOM said “the alarming number of migrants arrive destitute and with serious medical and psychiatric conditions which challenge the local capacities,”
The body claimed the conflict in northern Ethiopia has made the situation of migrants even more precarious, with returns to home communities made impossible and migrants becoming stranded.
According to the UN migration agency, approximately one-third of all returns from Saudi Arabia originate from areas devastated by conflict.
The IOM said hundreds of thousands of Ethiopians, primarily youth, migrate toward the Middle East, South Africa, and Europe every year.
It said forced migration due to climate change has worsened in recent years, exposing vulnerable populations to trafficking in persons and other forms of exploitation.
It concluded that desperate Ethiopian migrants, who attempt to cross the dangerous Red Sea route via the neighboring nation Djibouti, often endure deadly incidents along the Red Sea as well as imprisonment and killings in Yemen.
