The compound of the Jesuit Refugee Service in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, is a microcosm of the region’s troubles.
Set off a busy main road, it hosts refugees from the conflicts and struggles in South Sudan, Congo, Uganda, Somalia, Eritrea, Yemen, Burundi, and more besides.
Ethiopia has a refugee population of 700,000, the largest in Africa. In the first few weeks of October alone, an additional 31,000 people fleeing the crisis in South Sudan arrived in the west of the country.
But Ethiopia is not only an important destination for refugees, it’s also a key country of origin and transit for migrants as well.
No jobs
The economy struggles to provide opportunities for its youth, who are increasingly heading to the Middle East via Yemen, or travelling south to South Africa looking for work.
The tight local job market means that although refugees are provided with sanctuary, they have no employment rights.
A $500 million initiative by the UK government, the European Union, and the World Bank aims to provide some of the answers.
The Partnership Framework initiative plans to build two industrial parks in Ethiopia to generate about 100,000 jobs, with Ethiopia required to grant work to 30,000 refugees as part of the deal. By investing in tackling the root causes, it aims to help put a lid on irregular migration.
“Our investment is not going to solve the problem, but it may have a domino effect by showing others that this can work,” Francisco Carreras, head of cooperation at the Delegation of the European Union to Ethiopia, says of the $250 million coming from the EU.
“We’re putting migrant-related issues at the heart of our support to countries.”
The initiative is part of a pilot programme also supporting Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, and Mali. The new strategy uses targeted aid to tackle the migrant crisis afflicting both Europe and Africa.
During the UN summit on refugees in New York this September, UK Prime Minister Theresa May described the project as, “a model for how we can support host countries [in creating] jobs for their own people and refugees – a mutually beneficial solution and one we must replicate”.
Total official development assistance to Ethiopia was $3.6 billion in 2014.
A “free prison”?
New jobs would certainly be welcome here.
“I’ve been idle for three years and my plan is to remain idle. That’s all I can do,” says 28-year-old Daniel, a qualified dentist who fled Eritrea for Ethiopia after his involvement with a locally produced publication drew the government’s wrath. Read more here
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