Migration routes have a hierarchy
(and it all boils down to whether you're headed for Europe or not)
Hi,
You’re reading Sifter, a newsletter that brings you the top 5 news stories on Ethiopia, every week. I’m Maya Misikir, a freelance reporter, and I write and curate it from Addis Abeba, where I am based.
This week’s updates include one on a lesser-known migration route (known as the Southern Route) one on Ethiopia’s foreign debt status (which always takes me the longest to compile) and one on the telecom sector. Also in this edition is an update on the security situation in Ethiopia’s Amhara region. And finally, some good news on the education front.
As usual, feel free to hit reply and let me know what you think - I always write back.
Now, to the news.
Migration: a story about another route
In the past editions of Sifter, I have written updates on stories of migration from the Horn of Africa, mostly focusing on one particular journey known as the Eastern Route (aka the migration route from hell). This is a (dangerous) journey taken by nearly 100,000 Ethiopians through land and sea from Ethiopia through Somalia and Djibouti to Yemen and finally Saudi Arabia. Most of the people making their way on this route are economic migrants looking for better work opportunities.
This update is about another route – known as the Southern Route. This one goes from Ethiopia, through Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, and Mozambique to South Africa. Last year, The Reporter published two stories related to this migration route - one story was about 27 bodies, identified later as Ethiopian migrants, that were found in Zambia, all suspected to have died from hunger and exhaustion.
Another one, published in December 2022, two months later, was about a mass grave in Malawi where 30 bodies of Ethiopian migrants were found, all of whom had died from suffocation.
A recent piece by The New Humanitarian talks about the detailed nature of this migration route and why it doesn’t get the attention it deserves.
Here’s an excerpt:
“The southern route to South Africa is one of three major migration corridors transporting people out of the Horn of Africa. But unlike the two better-known routes – going east to the Gulf states, or north to Europe – it is both sketchily documented and poorly understood.”
Why is it not well documented? Simply put, the migrants on this route are on what an expert in the story calls ‘South-South’ movements, and that makes it ‘less of a priority for donor governments of the ‘Global North’.
Though there are no figures on the number of people who make this journey, here’s one fact from the UN to consider: over 23,000 Ethiopians sought asylum in South Africa in the first half of this year alone.
The Eastern and Southern Routes have similarities in that both have land and sea voyages. In the Southern Route, this could involve a road trip through Ethiopia until Somalia or Kenya and then by sea from there to Mozambique. Both Routes are used mostly by Ethiopians.
This journey on the Southern Route could take up to six months (with months of waiting at one of the many countries along the way) and the story talks in detail about what the stops in each country look like, speaking to migrants, police, and even smugglers.
In Malawi, the traffickers hide in plain sight at the Dzaleka refugee camp. Here’s an excerpt from the story:
“Smart, street-casual young Ethiopian men drive 4x4s and Golf GTIs – some parked discreetly at a petrol station outside the camp. Although they may own bars and businesses in Dzaleka, or rent land and farm, the refugees The New Humanitarian interviewed claimed it was all a front for smuggling – the real money-maker.”
But what happens to those that do make it to South Africa?
Another investigative story (based on a business census conducted across South Africa in 2020) talks about the exploitation taking place at small informal retailers known as Spaza shops in South Africa’s townships. This is where most migrants end up working.
The story, published in The Conversation, says that the foreign workers hired in these informal, unregistered businesses work in poor conditions and are underpaid. In almost all the cases the story looked at, their employers had also taken their passports.
The full story on The New Humanitaria is entitled ‘From Ethiopia to South Africa: The human cost of a neglected migration route’ and the investigative report by The Conversation on South Africa’s Spaza shops here.
Finance: securing much-needed suspensions
There have been a few developing stories on Ethiopia’s foreign debt over the past few weeks. I included a link a couple of weeks ago to a story about an agreement struck between the Ethiopian government and bilateral creditors for a much-needed debt service suspension.
The debt suspension with these bilateral creditors, excluding China (which is the country’s largest single bilateral creditor) was reached in late November.
Here’s an excerpt from what state Minister of Finance, Eyob Tekalign, was quoted as saying in a story covered by Reuters:
"With China ... we have a two-year debt suspension," said Eyob. "So essentially the creditors committee has put forward the same proposal for all our other creditors - largely similar terms. Some could be more favourable."
The Paris Club (the group of official creditors) in a statement released last week, said that this agreement to suspend debt service for Ethiopia will be dependent on whether Ethiopia reaches an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). If Ethiopia does not reach an agreement with the IMF by March 2024, this suspension might be declared null and void.
So, will Ethiopia reach this agreement with the IMF before that time? I wrote an update the last time Ethiopian government representatives and IMF officials met at a sideline of another event in Marrakech, Morocco in October. Reuters now reports that another meeting is "likely to take place early next year,”.
Why does it take so long to reach an agreement with creditors to restructure debt repayment? What happens if Ethiopia can’t repay its loans? And ultimately, what would that mean for the rest of us? Here’s a really good piece by The Open Society Foundation that breaks these complex processes down.
On a related note, the governor of Ethiopia’s Central Bank, Mamo Mihretu, was in parliament last week, presenting the Bank’s quarterly performance report. Part of this report was a, ‘three-year strategic plan to overhaul the financial regulatory framework’.
So, what does that plan look like?
Here’s an excerpt from a story on Addis Fortune:
“A crucial component of Mamo's plan dwells on a thorough overhaul of the central bank's internal processes, including human capital recruitment, legislative reforms, and a significant push towards digitisation. These reforms are seen as vital steps in improving the central bank's regulatory capacity, operational efficiency and responsiveness to the dynamic economic environment.”
The full breakdown of the governor’s session in parliament on Addis Fortune here, the statement by the Paris Club here, and the latest story on the debt service suspension by Reuters here.
Education: an update on the latest law
As many of you might remember, one of last week’s updates was on a draft directive by the Ministry of Education on the assessment and grading of students in the country. The law prohibits a student from passing on to the next grade if the student has more than 12 days of absence from the academic year. The same is applicable, says the draft law, if a student is absent for 15 consecutive days after giving birth.
This is problematic for a variety of reasons. Go here to read last week’s detailed notes on that.
But it looks like the protest across social media platforms against this draft law, followed by the official joint statement of 10 civil society organizations in the country, including the Ethiopian Women Lawyer’s Association (EWLA), seemed to have reached the rights ears. At a press conference last week, members of the Association said that reps from the Ministry of Education reached out to the organization, asking for feedback on this directive, and assuring them that it is still at a draft stage.
The EWLA, as an association established by women with a range of legal expertise, is often asked to give input when laws are crafted, and at times, members are invited to be a part of a committee crafting a law.
Though they had not been asked to give feedback on this draft directive before the public outrage, it looks like they have now been invited for a discussion on the review of this draft law.
The full story in Amharic on Ethiopia Insider here.
Security: we don’t know her (XIII)
Things are getting worse in Amhara region. Last week reports came out stating that there were more drone attacks and shelling across the region as fighting goes unabated between between the federal government and the region’s armed militia (known as Fano).
A story by Addis Standard says that in one incident in the region’s South Wollo Zone an ambulance carrying medical supplies was hit by a drone, killing the driver and four other people.
Another drone attack was reported in the region’s North Wollo Zone. Here’s an excerpt from the story on that:
“In the Lasta district, an artillery strike occurred at approximately 10:00 AM, targeting a local market area, resulting in numerous lives lost, including that of a mother and child, as the market was densely populated on a day bustling with commercial activity.”
Opposition political party, the National Movement of Amhara, has called for an end to the fighting and a ceasefire. The party also called for an independent investigation into human rights violations in the region.
The full story in English by Addis Standard here and the party’s statement in Amharic here.
Telecom: one more company backs out
Ethiopia’s telecom sector opened up to foreign players in recent years, after over a hundred years of government monopoly. When the telecom sector opened up in 2018, it was a move to both privatize and liberalize the market. The second license was then sold to Safaricom Ethiopia. I went into the details of that in a recent post which was an update on how the bidding process for the third telecom license was going (not good). You can go here to read more on that.
It now looks like the plans to privatize Ethiotelecom (meaning sell off 45% of government ownership) may be facing similar issues, as French telecom firm, Orange, confirms it is backing out of its initial interest.
Here’s an excerpt from a story by Reuters:
"Orange confirms that it has decided to withdraw from the ongoing process regarding the sale of 45% of Ethio Telecom," the company said in a statement to Reuters. After analysis, the Group believes that the conditions do not allow for the rapid deployment of our strategy and the completion of a project that would create value for the company."
Between a recently failed negotiation with a rebel faction in the country’s Oromia region, and renewed fighting in Amhara region, it’s easy to see how a plan for ‘rapid deployment’ would hit a snag.
The full story on Reuters here.
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