The Life-Experiences of Ethiopian Youth Returnees from the Gulf Countries; The Case Study of Saudi Arabian Returnees from Shirka Woreda of Oromiya Regional State
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2014-11
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Addis Ababa University
Abstract
The phenomenon of return migration has been neglec ted in many st udies in Arrica ill general
dnd Eth iopia in particular. Converse ly. there has been a growing recogniti on that migration. both
internal and international, can one r an important directi on out of poverty for Illany people from
develop ing co untries. Parti cularly. high-skilled return migration has thc potential to positive ly
impact on development in our country in many ways including through the harness of the
potent ial of acti ve (youth) portions or the soc iety who acti vc ly cngllged in cmigration. /\1,0.
various studi es conducted among Asian. European and Mediterrancan return migranLs have
shown Lhm many return migrants race serious probl ems in obtaining employment ullcr returni ng
home. Evidentially, several months ago. there were ovcr 150,000 Ethiopians who wc re lorced LO
return to home as a resu lt or the crackdown in the Ki ngdom targeting illegal foreign
laborers/migrants. Besides, the repatriation was accidental and the incident was not projected.
Particu larly. Ethiopian yo uth re turn migrants' later life at homc was ridd led with possibilities and
challenges and they had signilicant impacts and prospec ts ror the development in the localitic,
and regions LO where they return . I-Ience. their Imer socio-economic and psychological lilcexperiences,
after the retu rn from the Kingdom, in their host communities required sc rUTin y. To
th is end. the aim of this study was to exp lore the socio-economic and psyc hological lik
experiences of Eth iopian youth Rellirnees !i'om the Gulf Countri es, the Case Study of Saud i
Retu rnees ii'om Shi rka Worecla of Oromiya Regional State. Accordingly. key intfJl'll1ant
;nterview. locus group discussion and in-depth in terview were employed for this st udy. Several
interviews conducted with 53 ( lin)' Lhrce) Eth iopian youth return migrants. Besides. Lhere were a
total or nine (9) st' lec lcci hn indiv iduals and three ICU!),. r he sLuri), cmpluycd '1u.ll itati\'t;
research approach and an exploratory research de sign respect ive ly. In add iti()n to Lh is.
considering the time dimension , the study was cross-sectional ill nature. The select ion of Lhe
respondents (interviewees) fo llowed snow ball sampling or non-pro bability sampling technique.
To thi s end, the study analyzed the overal l sketch of return migration and its implications tc)r
local development in the study arca in particul ar. The stuclyinclicated that there were changes in
living standa rds/conditions of return migrants as compared to what they were belo re migraLion.
Likewise. study p~rticipants asserted that the return migrants have been rucing challenges.
especia lly with regard tolinding job opportuniti es. Thc study recomillends that gm Cril mc III
ought to des ign and implement comprehen sive programlllcs such as post-arrival counseling.
reintegration and business start-up support lor returnees to ensure a max imulll utili zation of their
skills and resources tor the socia-economic development orthe co untry.
Keywords: Rcturn migrants, Life experiences Saudi, Youth Ethiopian
Description
Keywords
Rcturn migrants, Life experiences, Saudi, Youth Ethiopian