Understanding the forced repatriation of Ethiopian migrant workers

The paper also addresses the motivation and characteristics of returnees, their individual vulnerabilities, the challenges they are facing upon and after returning home as well as the role of state actors, civil society and international organisations in addressing the situation and the challenges involved. [...] 12) argued, “return should be properly understood as a diversified process according to the time it takes place, the completion of the migration project, the level of constraint the migrants experience, and the preparedness of the migrants, their families, and the institutions involved.” Return is used interchangeably with repatriation and reversed migration on the one hand, and removal, readmissi. [...] (2004) also argued that the notion of sustainability must take into account the physical, socio-economic, and political security aspects of sustainability, as well as considering these from the subjective perception of the returnee, in terms of the objective condition of individual returnees, and in terms of aggregate conditions in the home country. [...] A change is also observed in terms of the direction of the movement, volume, drivers, and impact of the movement, as well as the characteristics of the movers. [...] Conclusion and policy implications The surge of irregular migration to and involuntary return from Saudi Arabia – the largest single destination in the Middle East – has been the main features of the Ethiopian migration landscape over the past decade.