As the COVID-19 pandemic swept through Ethiopia, the country’s already high unemployment rate increased and travel restrictions obstructed safe migration pathways for thousands of Ethiopians. In a desperate attempt to provide for her children, Kifle, like many others, turned to people smugglers who promised jobs. But her journey ended with three months of imprisonment in a foreign country before she was deported back home.
“When I came back to Ethiopia, I had no money, and I was depressed. My son was living on the street and my daughter was living with a neighbour. In a situation like this, your own family can turn their back on you,” she says.
An estimated 550,000 migrants were expected to return from Gulf countries to Ethiopia in 2020, because of the pandemic, many carrying the trauma of violence they experienced during migration. Despite the spike in demand, shelters were unable to accommodate returnees because they didn’t have enough isolation spaces or personal protective equipment (PPE) to prevent transmission of the coronavirus and lacked skilled personnel.
In response to the crisis, UN Women, in partnership with local NGOs and with funding from the Government of Japan, established five transitional shelters in Ethiopia that served as quarantine centres, as well as three women’s shelters to support returnee women and girls who experienced violence during their migration.
Supportive counselling and women’s shelters are much-needed services for survivors. Ethiopia’s Demographic Health Survey (2016) showed that only 23 per cent of women aged 15-49 who have ever experienced physical or sexual violence have sought help. Among those who sought help, only 8 per cent went to the police.
At left, residents gain skills in food preparation as a vocational training at the GSA shelter. At right, a survivor runs a small grocery shop started with in-kind support from GSA. Photos courtesy of GSA