Ethiopia  - IOM Ethiopia organized a two-day International Migration Law (IML) training for senior government officials of the national and regional State Anti-Trafficking Taskforces on 18-19 February 2015. They included officials from the Bureau of Labour and Social Affairs, Bureau of Justice, Bureau of Women and Children Affairs, and Police Commission.

Under the project funded by the European Union and UNICEF, and in close partnership with the Ministry of Women Children and Youth Affairs, IOM has organized four similar trainings over the past years. This year’s IML gave special attention on migrant children, as in recent years, more and more unaccompanied minors from the Horn of Africa are migrating to Europe via Italy.

Highlighting data from the Italian Government, presenters at the IML stated that 8,336 migrant children entered Italy in 2013, of whom 3,104 were accompanied, while 5,232 were unaccompanied. The data for the year 2014 showed a significant increase with 26,112 registered children, of whom half were unaccompanied.

Eritrean children make up a large proportion of the migrant children – who often travel through Ethiopia – 927 in 2013 and 4,197 in 2014; followed by Somalis – 912 in 2013 and 1,642 in 2014.  The total number of registered Ethiopian children was significantly lower with 17 in 2013 and 42 in 2014.

However, with more than 8,500 migrant child returnees registered from the total of over 160,000 deportees from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia last year, the issue of migrant children is also an important focus for Ethiopia as well.

The IML topics included a particular focus on the vulnerabilities of migrant children crossing the Gulf of Aden/Red Sea and the Ethiopian legal framework pertaining to migration and children.

For more information, please contact

Alemayehu Seifeselassie

IOM Ethiopia

Tel: +251.91.163-9082

Email: salemayehu@iom.int