Aspirations, Decision Making and Networks of Eritrean Refugees in Ethiopia

Admigov Paper, 2021

The present research attempts to investigate:the drivers of migration from Eritrea into the refugee camps in Ethiopia; the challenges encountered in the migration process; opportunities for staying in the refugee camps; the progressive advancement of migration from refugee camps to Addis Ababa; and their associated opportunities, challenges and future plans. The aspirations of refugees either to stay in their current location in Addis Ababa or country (Ethiopia) or to migrate internationally to other foreign countries have been investigated. In their youth immobility study in four countries (Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam) Schewel and Fransen (2020) have classified immobility aspirations as the ‘aspiration to stay within one’s current locality, and the aspiration to stay within one’s country but internally migrating to other areas’. Schewel and Fransen’s (2020) above immobility definition has been adapted to explore the staying aspiration of the Eritrean refugees living in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. However, our study includes the aspiration of Eritrean refugees to travel to other foreign countries due to various drivers.