Social Networks, Remittance and Family Migration Decision among Somali Immigrants
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Date
2011
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Nowadays, different parts of Addis Ababa witness an increasingly large number of Somali immigrants. A well-defined explanation for this movement is absent though people believed that Somalis has been migrating since 1991due to the incessant political upheavals. However, this cannot be a dependable explanation for migration movement from Somalia to Ethiopia. Thus, this research aimed at evaluating the contributions of social networks and monetary remittance in Somali family migration decision. Three questions have been addressed: (1) what is the main objective of Somalis migration to Addis Ababa? (2) What are the influences of family social networks on Somali family migration decision? And (3) what about the relationship between annual monetary remittance and Somali family migration decision? In answering these questions, a survey research, consisted of 360 sample Somali immigrant family-heads systematically selected from two Woredas, was designed. The data were collected using structured questionnaire and analyzed with a logistic regression model. Findings revealed three important results: first, the majority of Somalis (71.1per cent) have migrated to Addis Ababa aiming at furthering their migration to Western countries. Secondly, this Somali family migration decision is strongly related with family social networks, such as instrumental supports, migration attitude, type of network, migration experiences, and size of networks; and, thirdly, monetary remittance was found insignificant in determining Somalis‟ family migration decision. Therefore, considering other factors, family social network characteristics are the major determinant factors for Somali immigrant families‟ migration decision.
Key words: Social networks, family migration, remittance, Somali family, transit migration, migration decision, logistic regression
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Keywords
Social Networks;Family Migration; Remittance; Somali Family; Transit Migration; Migration Decision; Logistic Regression