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ABSTRACT
The multifaceted notion of ‘returning home,’ and not least the dualities between expectation, anticipation and the realities facing migrants upon their return, is a key component in understanding East African migration dynamics and implications. This article constitutes an exploratory attempt to understand the nexus between return migration journeys, reintegration, psychosocial well-being, and masculinity for the hundreds of thousands of Ethiopian men that migrate every year. Through our empirical findings, we emphasize how fluidity of migration demands a nonlinear interpretation of migratory lives and argue for return migration to be seen not as an outcome or an ending but an unfolding state of being. The traumatic events of irregular Ethiopian migration suggest it becomes an existential journey as much as a physical one. Returning thus should not be seen as a temporary process or journey, but rather an enduring process of personal, mental, and existential change. We ground our argument on analysis of findings of a qualitative study conducted in two sites in Ethiopia, in Arsi zone of Oromia regional state and Addis Ababa, the federal capital.
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to the reviewers and editors for their comments on drafts of the article.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 Interviews with returnee migrants, Addis Ababa, 2019.
2 Cassarinio, “Theorising Return Migration.”
3 Ottonelli and Torresi, “When Is Migration Voluntary.”
4 Chimni, “Globalization, Humanitarianism.”
5 Hammond, “Examining the Discourse of Repatriation.”
6 Beltman, “Voluntary Return Facilities.”
7 Christou and King, Counter-Diaspora; Vathi, “Migration and Psychosocial Wellbeing.”
8 RMMS, Blinded by Hope.
9 Zeleke Eresso, “Sisters on the Move.”
10 Kuschminder, Andersson, and Seigel, “Migration and Multidimensional Well-Being.”
11 See; Birke et al., “Migration and Mental Health.”
12 Vathi, “Migration and Psychosocial Wellbeing.”
13 Zeleke Eresso, “Sisters on the Move.”
14 Feyissa, “Beyond Economics.”
15 Treiber, “Becoming by Moving.”
16 Minaye, “Attitude, Risk Perception.”
17 Kerilyn, “Aspriring for Change.”
18 Busza et al., “Learning from Returnee Ethiopian.”
19 Interview with returnee migrant in Addis Ababa, 2020.
20 FGD with five returnee migrants Arsi Zone, Gobessa district, 2019.
21 Ibid. and Interview with a returnee migrant Addis Ababa, 2019.
22 RMMS, Blinded by Hope.
23 Interview with returnee migrant, Arsi zone, 2019.
24 IOM, “They Snatched from Me My Own Cry.”
25 Interview with director of a shelter in Addis Ababa, 2020.
26 Fernandez, “Irregular Migration from Ethiopia.”
27 see Birke et al., “Migration and Mental Health.”
28 Erdal and Oeppen, “Forced to Leave?.”
29 Vathi, “Migration and Psychosocial Wellbeing.”
30 Gough and McGregor, “Well Being,” 19.
31 Boccagni and Baldassar, “Emotions on the Move.”
32 Atnafu and Adamek, “The Return Migration Experiences.”
33 See Kleist, “Negotiating Respectable Masculinity.”
34 Bilgili, Kuschminder, and Siegel, “Return Migrants’ Perceptions.”
35 Interview with director of a shelter in Addis Ababa, 2020.
36 Interview with returnee migrant in Arsi zone, Shirka district, 2019.
37 Interview with returnee migrant, Addis Ababa, 2019.
38 Interview with returnee migrant, Addis Ababa, 2019.
39 Interview with returnee migrant, Addis Ababa, 2020.
40 Interview with returnee migrant in Arsi zone, Shirka district, 2019.
41 See Zewdu and Suleyiman, “Depression and Coping Mechanism”; Nisrane, Ossewaarde, and Need, “The Exploitation Narratives.”
42 Interview with returnee migrant in Addis Abba, 2019.
43 Interview with returnee migrant in Arsi zone, Shirka district, 2019.
44 Interview with returnee migrant in Addis Abba, 2019.
45 FGD with returnee migrants, Addis Ababa, 2020.
46 Interview with returnee migrant in Arsi zone, Shirka district, 2019.
47 Interview with returnee migrant in Arsi zone, Shirka district, 2019.
48 Interview with returnee migrant, Addis Ababa, 2019.
49 Interview with returnee migrant, Addis Ababa, 2019.
50 Zeleke Eresso, Women in Ethiopia.
51 Zeleke Eresso, “Sisters on the Move.”
52 Interview with returnee migrant in Arsi zone, Shirka district, 2019.
53 Interview with returnee migrant, Addis Ababa, 2020.
54 Interview with returnee migrant in Arsi zone, Shirka district, 2019.
55 FGD with returnee migrants, Addis Ababa, 2020.
56 Interview with returnee migrant, Addis Ababa, 2020.
57 Interview with returnee migrant, Addis Ababa, 2020.
58 FGD with returnee migrants, Addis Ababa, 2020.
59 FGD with returnee migrants, Addis Ababa, 2020.
60 Interview with returnee migrant, Addis Ababa, 2020.
61 Interview with returnee migrant in Arsi zone, Shirka district, 2019.
62 FGD with returnee migrants, Addis Ababa, 2020.