No War Forward, No Way Back: A qualitative study of the conditions, aspirations and capabilities of Ethiopian youth and child migrants and returnees in Metema

This report focuses on the needs, protection risks, journeys and intentions of Ethiopian child and youth migrants and returnees transiting or effectively stranded in Metema, an Ethiopian town in the northern Amhara Regional State (henceforth the “Amhara region”) that lies on the border with Sudan. Drawing on interviews and focus
group discussions conducted in Metema, the report offers recommendations to policymakers, humanitarian programming actors and other migration stakeholders.
This study puts forward the following key findings:

• The vast majority of Ethiopian child and youth migrants residing in and transiting Metema originate from drought-stricken areas elsewhere in the Amhara region. Frequently cited reasons for leaving home related to poverty, hunger, inability to attend school, family responsibilities, peer pressure and a culture of migration,
  risks related to intercommunal violence and a perceived lack of life prospects.
• Almost all the children and youth interviewed said they had engaged with brokers who facilitated all or parts of their journey, particularly for movements out of Ethiopia and through Sudan. Since they tend to travel with minimal financial resources, little knowledge and few contacts—in Ethiopia as well as in Sudan—a cycle of dependency is created, leaving children and youth vulnerable to abuse.
• Children and youth returning from Sudan generally spend less time in Metema than those who are seeking to move on to Sudan, who often find themselves in the town for extended periods. The reasons for immobility in Metema include the current conflict in Sudan, emerging economic opportunities in Metema, lack of financial resources to pay a broker, reluctance to return home empty-handed, and—especially in the case of women—having married and started a family in Metema.
•  None of the interviewed children and youth who intended to move on to Sudan said they had received services in Metema. Returnees fared better, although they said the assistance provided was insufficient, especially with regard to shelter, medication and food.
• Because of the conflict in Sudan and their lack of savings, most of this study’s participants said they intended to stay and work in Metema for the foreseeable future. Very few were considering returning to their areas of origin in the Amhara region, because to do so empty-handed would constitute a humiliating failure to not have achieved their migration objectives.