Too many winds to consider; which way and when to sail!: Ethiopian female transit migrants in Djibouti and the dynamics of their decision-making

ABSTRACT

Transit migration is a phenomenon on the rise partly due to the growth of international migration and more robust policies in destination countries making onward travel more difficult. The dominant discourse portrays transit migrants as agents stranded enroute-lacking agency to decide about their state of mobility/immobility. By going beyond such a normative victimization narrative of transit migrants, and by drawing on lived experiences of female Ethiopian migrants, this paper examines the agency of transit migrants; that is, the creative strategies they employ while planning their mobility/immobility, and in negotiating their precarious and vulnerable position. The paper discusses prospects of mobility/Immobility and/or settlement of migrants and factors that affect their informed decisions and argues against a monocausal analysis of factors influencing decision-making of migrants.

KEYWORDS:

• Agency
• decision-making
• female migrants
• transit
• Djibouti

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 Regional Mixed Migration Secretariat (RMMS). Djibouti. Accessed on March 2, 2016. http://www.regionalmms.org/index6e03.html?id=13.

2 Interview with Mr Ashenafi. Head of Ethiopian Community Association in Djibouti City, March 2, 2017.

3 The largest groups of informants (i.e. 13 of the 20 informants) are from rural parts of the country while the remaining 7 informants, came from the capital Addis Ababa, Dire Dawa, and Adama towns. Most of those with rural backgrounds did not attend school except the two girls who went to primary education. On the other hand all of those from urban areas have completed high school. Of the seven informants from urban backgrounds, four have college degrees and diplomas (one has BSc degree in marketing, one BSc degree in accounting, one has diplomas in nursing and massage therapy, while the fourth one has diploma in hair dressing). The religious background of these informants is equally diverse 11 of the informants were orthodox Christians while 8 were Muslims and 1 identified herself as a waqefetauu (traditional Oromo believer). The ethnic background of the informants equally shows an aspect of diversity; 8 were Amharas, 9 Oromo, 2 Tigreans and 1 of the informants was a Guraghe born and raised in Dire Dawa city. Three of the informants are married while two were divorced.

4 As part of the ethical precautions, the profile of the informants and any information that facilitates law enforcement agencies to plan operations are not disclosed in the paper. Furthermore, a normative approach is not in any way adopted in the research and in the paper while addressing different sections of the female transit migrants such as sex workers.

5 The two countries are separated by only 30 km at the narrowest point of the Bab-el-Mandeb strait that joins the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

Additional information

Funding

The research leading to this publication was fully supported by the Volkswagen Foundation’s Postdoctoral Fellowship, in the Humanities in Sub-Saharan Africa and North Africa.