Tesfaye Lema
Halima, 35, lived in Saudi
Arabia for fifteen years. When she left for the first time abroad, she was at
the age of fifteen. Her father sold his ox and gave her the money with hope of
getting back at least two years later. Halima’s
parents were hopeful that their daughter would help them working in Saudi
Arabia because they observed what one of their neighbors, Hasina, has been
doing to her family.
In fact, there is a
misunderstanding. The ways Hasina and Halima left to Saudi Arabia is quite
different. Hasina got her diploma in nursing from a recognized university at
home. Besides, she studied Arabic language before she left. Above all, she went
to Saudi Arabia legally and she has been working as a nurse in a hospital. As a
result, she managed to help her parents meaningfully.
However, Halima hasn’t got any
qualification. Although she completed
grade ten, she didn’t study the Arabic language before her departure to Saudi
Arabia. Besides, she went there illegally. As a result, she faced a lot of ups
and downs.
Challenges that jeopardized her
plan to help her parents. Moreover, she was abused by her employer and obliged
to leave that country being a pregnant without any asset. She came to Ethiopia
and became dependent on her poor parents with her baby.
There are a lot of Ethiopians
who left to Arab, African, European and Western Countries who faced similar and
even worst challenges. Such an
authorized entry to various countries, the misery citizens have faced over the
past two decades maximized Ethiopia’s concern. As for such illegal immigration
is concerned, the impact is not only to the immigrants themselves
but also to their family and the country.
A large number of Ethiopians
faced various challenges abroad. The number of Ethiopians who have become
successful abroad is insignificant. One of the most significant reason for such
challenges could be an authorized entry
to various countries. The country has been exerting its efforts to mitigate
this problem. It has been attempting to create a legal system that could guarantee
Ethiopians living abroad and those who desire to leave in the future.
The Ethiopians
who entered to those countries illegally have no right to freely move from one
place to another to work. If they are found somewhere, they are directly
deported without any property.
Due to the
various challenges they suffer abroad, the number of Ethiopians who have
affected physically and psychologically is very large. There are also reports
indicating that there are Ethiopians who either hung or threw themselves down from
many-storey buildings. Despite all these
hardships, many Ethiopian youngsters are still leaving their country. They
subjected themselves at a higher risk. Several others are either committing
suicide just to shorten the incomprehensible earthly suffering or killed by
their employers.
Ethiopia has also
taken various options like cooperating with neighboring countries to curve
illegal migration. Agreements have made
with Kenyan and other horn countries to minimizing the rising human trafficking.
One of the significant efforts that the
government and people of Ethiopia have been doing is taking human smugglers to
justice. These smugglers have been misleading
young Ethiopians with founded stories and instigate them to leave their
country. That measure has almost become so effective in curbing human
trafficking activities. However, only the government can’t stop illegal
immigration. It is indispensable that the entire people should come together to
effectively tackle the problem of human trafficking.
Halima’s family were in a dire
poverty the first two years following their daughter’s departure to Saudi
Arabia as they have already sold their oxen so as to facilitate her illegal
migration.
They were expecting to get help
from their daughter. However, Halima failed to send them as her employees dined
her paying her monthly salary. Besides, she faced a serious problem to
communication with them and not in a position to express what she wants.
After she served them for about
five years, she managed to hear and speak their language and realized their
intention. When she asked them her salary, they were unwilling to do that with
irrelevant pretexts.
Halima said, “In the meantime, I
was subjected to various challenges from my employees. Finally, Usman, the
older son of my employers, attempted to forced sex. I didn’t tolerate that and
when I angrily pushed him, he fall down the stairs and got one leg broken”.
Then, she was taken to prison
and obliged to stay their for the rest of the years in Saudi Arabia. In the
prison, she was abused and got pregnant. Finally, she was deported home being
seven month’s pregnant.
Halima’s father was one of the
first farmers in the country who have accepted modern farming following the
implementation of the agricultural led industrial development policy that bare
fruits in changing the lives of tens of thousands of farmers. Her father, Sheik
Kedir, was one of those farmers who won farmers’ award for managing to
transform themselves from farming to potential investors.
When Halima came back home, the
situation of her family was so different from what she knew some fifteen years
ago. They have built a modern house in Adama and have various means of income.
Now she has been running her own business in Addis Ababa and leading a good
life.
Of course, Halima is fortunate
but there are a large number of Ethiopians who murdered themselves when they
faced such challenging situations abroad. Most of them also face both physical and
psychological problems causing a severe impact not only on t6hemselves but also
on their family and the society at large.
This could greatly harm the
country as well. It is not a simple task that has to be left to the government
only. We need to come together and cooperate against illegal immigration in
collaboration to what the government has been doing. Public mobilization and
participation is indispensible for curbing illegal migration.
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