The Ministry of Women and Social Affairs announced today that it has successfully repatriated over 432,000 citizens who were living in extremely difficult conditions in various countries.
However, the institution previously noted that some of these returnees are re-migrating illegally because they did not receive the expected support in rehabilitation centers, and because they believe they can earn a better income in the places they were previously living.
As is known, the primary reasons citizens risk their lives and are driven to migrate are the high unemployment rate, low income, and the high cost of living within the country.
The mismatch between the number of graduates from educational institutions each year and the job opportunities created, combined with the belief that one can become wealthy quickly abroad, leads youth to view migration as their only option.
Furthermore, the social pressure resulting from seeing those who migrated earlier and "succeeded" encourages youth to migrate even more. Taking advantage of this favorable environment, illegal brokers easily deceive youth by hiding the severe dangers of migration and spreading false information.
Nevertheless, the government stated that it has established and implemented a system where citizens can be employed legally, with their human dignity and rights fully protected.
According to the data released today, 432,691 citizens have been received in temporary shelters and holding centers, where they have been provided with psychological, social, and economic support services to facilitate their reintegration into the community.
The Ministry stated that among the returnees, there are 308,155 men, 101,636 women, and 22,900 minors under the age of 18. These individuals mainly returned from Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, Qatar, Beirut, and Myanmar; some were intercepted while attempting to leave the country irregularly through border checkpoints such as Moyale, Galafi, Metema, and Togochale.
However, ensuring the sustainable benefit and holistic well-being of the returnees remains a major challenge. It has been reported that, although the number is not high, there are citizens who leave the country again illegally after returning home.
This occurs because, upon their return, the citizens do not receive the support and rapid recovery they expected in the rehabilitation process, and because they feel they earned better income in their previous destination, leading them to choose to go back.
The Ministry announced that it is working with determination to focus on legal accountability for illegal brokers who operate behind the scenes to accelerate migration and deceive the public, in order to solve this deep-rooted problem sustainably and to help citizens develop a culture of working within their own country.
