Challenges Ethiopian Migrant Returnees Encounter in the Reintegration Processes The Case of Females Deported from Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Studies revealed that migrant returnees face challenges of reintegration into their countries of origin, particularly when the countries to which they returned face weak economies and labour markets. In such countries, it is considered returnees are a burden to their place of origin. This article explores the socio-economic and psychological challenges the Ethiopian returnee migrant females encounter to fully re-integrate within their original social environment. The data collection methods include in-depth interviews, key informant interviews, and document reviews. Purposive and snowball sampling techniques were used to select returnee migrant females and experts working in relevant offices in Gulale sub-city of Addis Ababa. The collected data were analyzed thematically. The findings reveal that returnee migrant females were deported from high-wage earnings in Saudi Arabia due to a sudden declaration by the Saudi government. The returnees have faced challenges of reintegration into the social and economic structure of their place of origin. The specific challenges include the breakdown of the migrants' previous social network, lack of adequate financial capital, and absence of encouraging job opportunities for generating personal income. As a consequence, they suffer from psychological problems like anxiety, depression, loneliness, humiliation, and self-neglect. Based on the findings, the study recommends that addressing the problem requires intervention at a grassroots level with unreserved commitment from all concerned bodies. Interventions need to be gender-oriented, inclusive, and participatory.