A play on the pitfalls and dangers of irregular migration is
currently touring rural areas of the Amhara region of Oromia, which
stretches in an arc from eastern to southwestern Ethiopia.

The play, entitled "Mutach" – "the last one" in Amharic
– tells the story of a father's predicament as he considers
sending his youngest son to work abroad. His dilemma is based on
the fact that he has been without news from one of his daughters
who was smuggled out of Ethiopia a year earlier.

"The play is thought provoking and triggers open discussion
among villagers and community leaders," says Tagel Solomon, IOM's
counter-trafficking coordinator in Ethiopia. "Issues surrounding
irregular migration and trafficking are often taboo. But would-be
migrants need to understand the risks involved in irregular
migration, which often leads to exploitation and human trafficking
in transit and destination countries."

As part of this initiative, IOM also seeks to encourage
community members to find local solutions to chronic unemployment
in rural areas, which each year pushes tens of thousands of young
Ethiopians to seek employment opportunities abroad. These include
partnerships with local authorities and NGOs to provide vocational
training opportunities to vulnerable young people and sustainable
livelihood alternatives for impoverished families.

The play will be performed over a period of a week in 10
locations selected in close consultation with district officials to
target vulnerable groups such as women and young people and to
enlist the support of community and religious leaders.

"Such events seek to empower those agents of change within
vulnerable communities," says Solomon. "IOM will continue to
support local initiatives and small businesses to minimize the
risks of irregular migration by providing viable
alternatives." 

Most Ethiopian irregular migrants from rural areas use smugglers
to get them to the Middle East and beyond via Somalia, the Gulf of
Aden and Yemen. But few are aware of the perils and misery of the
journey via Bossasso in Somalia's Puntland.

The migrants are often abused, robbed and at times abandoned in
the Somali desert with no money, papers, food or water. Women and
girls often face the added ordeal of rape. Those who reach Bossasso
live in squalid conditions until they manage to find the means to
make the crossing to Yemen in the smugglers' often unseaworthy
boats. Many thousands of Ethiopians and Somalis have drowned trying
to make the crossing, sometimes thrown overboard by smugglers
evading the authorities. 

This awareness raising initiative is part of a broader regional
project implemented in Kenya, Somaliland, Puntland, Yemen and
Ethiopia, which is funded through the Tokyo International
Conference on African Development (TICAD)-Government of Japan.

For more information please contact:

Tagel Solomon

IOM Addis Ababa

Tel +251 115 511 673

E-mail: "mailto:tsolomon@iom.int">tsolomon@iom.int 

or

Josiah Ogina

Tel: + 251 115 504 028

E-mail: "mailto:jogina@iom.int">jogina@iom.int