Tigray, Ethiopia – Yafet*, a 17-year-old student from Tigray, Northern Ethiopia, stood at the crossroads of a life-changing decision: to embark on a perilous journey with human traffickers out of the country, or to stay home and seek a different path.
Driven by the desire to help his family, who had lost so much during the conflict in Northern Ethiopia, Yafet felt his only option was to reach out to traffickers, known as “brokers”, who promised a safe journey and job in the Gulf countries.
“My family lost many things during the conflict, and I wanted to help them. The only thing I thought of was to contact brokers to take me to Saudi Arabia or Yemen,” Yafet explains.
But things changed when Yafet talked to a school friend, who is part of a peer education group that tries to stop young people from irregular migration. His friend, who knew the perils of such a trip, took Yafet to an awareness-raising session educating people about the dangers and risks of irregular migration.
“We were informed by our group members that two students were planning to withdraw from school to embark on the perilous journey,” says Meseret Neguse, a student leading the peer group at Mechare Secondary School in Mekoni town, Southern Tigray, Ethiopia.
“We brought them to the group to provide them with information about the dangers of irregular migration and we also advised them to finish their school,” she adds.
Every year, tens of thousands of Ethiopians, primarily youth, migrate to the Middle East, especially to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, due to poverty, unemployment, lack of opportunities and increasingly, climate change.
According to IOM’s Flow Monitoring, there were over 23,600 outgoing movements from Ethiopia in April 2024, 51 per cent of them heading to Saudi Arabia. Thirteen per cent of these movements came from the Tigray region, mainly from the Southern and Eastern zones.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM), with funding from the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief), trained Meseret and other group members and district representatives, such as youth and teachers, to become peer educators. The training includes sharing information about safe migration pathways, the dangers of irregular migration, and local livelihood options.
“We use poetry, debate, and theatre within schools to share information, encouraging youth to better understand the risks of irregular migration and organizing various events including morning line-ups to see who might be missing,” says Meseret, explaining the methods they use.
The group continues their work beyond school. Whenever they can, the group meets at the nearby local market to educate people about the dangers of irregular migration. “We are happy because we managed to positively influence two of our students through our group,” Meseret says assuredly.
Now, Yafet is continuing his education, is prepared to take the national school examination this year and to see what life holds for him. He has also joined the peer group, guiding other youth in his community to opt for safe livelihood options instead of risking his life through irregular migration.
IOM’s Community Conversation (CC) programme also seeks to foster dialogue, trust, and social cohesion among different stakeholders, such as potential migrants, returnees, host communities and local authorities. This year, IOM resumed the programme in the conflict-affected Tigray region.
Both the Peer Education and Community Conversation initiatives are part of IOM’s support to government’s efforts to address the challenges of irregular migration through a well-coordinated behavioural change communication campaign.
“Potential migrants are more likely to accept messages that come from members of their own community instead of authorities,” says Liyunet Demsis, IOM Project Officer for Community Outreach.
“IOM has been using peer educators trained by IOM and the government, and the community conversations tool to help vulnerable youth make informed decisions on migration. The Peer Education and Community Conversation Manuals, developed by IOM, equip youth to gain life skills which are also useful,” she adds.
Since 2009, IOM has been conducting the Community Conversations programme in Ethiopia and the Organization developed a Community Conversations Manual in 2013 that the Government of Ethiopia approved in 2014.
An evaluation of the programme, “The Impact of Awareness-raising Forums on Migration Attitudes in Ethiopia”, conducted in 2023 showed that community forums can influence how potential migrants think, which can help them make safer migration choices.
IOM’s Peer Education and Community Conversation programme in Southern Tigray is funded by King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief).
*The names have been changed to protect their identity .
The story is written by Rahel Nigussie, Sr. Communication Assistant, IOM Ethiopia.
