‘Self-reliant’ Refugees as ‘Development Actors’: Dignity or Disavowal of Responsibility? The Case of Eritrean Refugees in Ethiopia

Abstract

In this article which is based on anthropological fieldworks among Eritrean refugees in Hitsats and Adi Harush camps in North-Ethiopia and out of camp in the capital city Addis Ababa between 2019 and 2022, I report on how the new Ethiopian policy/law environment for refugee response has affected access to formal employment and own business licenses for this third largest refugee group in the country. This policy/law change in Ethiopia was linked to the New York Declaration on Refugees and Migrants and the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF) it included, which marked a global shift in handling protracted displacement. A move from refugees’ dependency on humanitarian aid to dignified self-reliance through economic inclusion, which in turn would contribute to development in host communities, was envisioned. Ethiopia followed up with ‘Nine Pledges’ that went far in promising economic inclusion for refugees. The revision of the country’s refugee proclamation sought to provide the juridical backing for this new refugee response which, initially, seemed to secure their right to work. However, my findings show that access to formal employment and business licenses is still denied refugees unless they are selected for a joint national-international project with external funding. I therefore argue that, rather than securing self-reliance and with it, refugees’ contribution to development, this new policy/law environment for refugee response in Ethiopia represents – in line with neoliberal governmentality – a disavowal of responsibility for their livelihoods. This study thus counters the general opinion that the law/policy shift in Ethiopia was ‘progressive’.

KEYWORDS:

• Eritrean refugees
• policy/law change in Ethiopia
• economic inclusion and self-reliance
• interdependence

Acknowledgements

I want to forward my sincere appreciation to the two peer reviewers for their thorough feedback as well as to Mulu Beyene Kidanemariam, Sarah Khasalamwa-Mwandha, Svein Erik Stave and Tewodros Kebede for their constructive inputs at different stages along the way.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Project

Refugees for Development: On the nexus of Humanitarian Assistance and Development (2019-2022) (https://www.fafo.no/en/projects/current-projects/flyktninger-og-okonomisk-utvikling).

Availability of data and material (data transparency)

Available on request from Thera Mjaaland.

Code availability (software application or custom code)

N/A.

Notes

1 Mandatory National Service for all aged 18–40 had started up in Eritrea in 1994. Initially, it was 6 months military training and 12 months civil service to contribute to the rebuilding of Eritrea after 30 years of struggle for independence from Ethiopia. It has turned into pervasive militarised control and forced labour/slavery (see e.g. Gaim Kebreab, 2009a, 2009b; O’Kane and Hepner, 2009; Hepner, 2012; HRW, 2019, 2023).

2 Currently, most abled-bodied citizens aged between 18 and 55 are conscripted. Women with children are de facto exempted but not de jure (e.g. Gaim Kebreab, 2009b).

3 Ethiopia has made reservations to Articles 8, 9, 17(2) and 22(1) of the 1951 Refugee Convention. While Article 8 and 9 are about protection and security issues, and Article 22(1) about refugees’ access to education, Article 17(2) is about refugees’ access to work.

4 The Kampala Convention (IGAD, 2019) states in Article 5b: ‘Expand access to labour markets by simplifying procedures for accessing employment including work permits, self-employment and business opportunities.’

5 At the time of writing, registration of Eritrean refugees has not started up again.

6 The Cessation of Hostilities Agreement signed between the Ethiopian Government and TPLF in Pretoria on 2 November 2022 (AU 2022) did not include Ethiopia’s allies in the war in Tigray, Amhara Special Forces, Fano militias and Eritrea, who still commit atrocities in parts of the region.

7 The documentary film that I had planned to produce as part of the research project on Eritrean refugees’ livelihood in Ethiopia, stranded on their immense fear of what could happen to them or their families in Eritrea if having uttered something that the Eritrean Government would consider critical of its rule – even in drama form.

8 See: https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/07/1138662 Accessed 1 August 2023

9 See: https://www.africanews.com/2023/11/14/ethiopian-pm-affirms-no-plans-for-invasion-over-red-sea-ports-access/ Accessed 20 November 2023.

10 An increase of around 50.000 from the previous year (UNHCR, 2022b).

11 https://www.unhcr.org/news/briefing-notes/unhcr-welcomes-ethiopian-decision-relax-encampment-eritrean-refugees Accessed 11 November 2023.

12 The World Bank, EU and UK government promised around 500 mill USD in support of an Ethiopian Jobs Compact, with 30 percent of 100,000 new jobs in industrial parks made available for refugees. Only 30 mill USD have to date been released after the revised refugee proclamation was passed (see Alemu and Carver, 2019).

13 For example, Eritrean refugees I talked with did not consider low-paid/exploitative factory work a dignified option.

14 These were in the thematic areas of Environmental Action, Human Settlement, Service Inclusion of Refugees in National Systems, Private Engagement, Access to Land and Digital Inclusion. See: https://www.fanabc.com/english/ministerial-workshop-validates-ethiopias-pledges-for-grf-2023/ Accessed 15 November 2023.

15 Barahle and Asayta camps in Afar region of Ethiopia also host Eritrean refugees. Totally, there are 329 refugee camps across the country (UNHCR-WFP 2023).

16 See: https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/peace-war-abiys-ethiopia-2023-08-04/ Accessed 15 August 2023

17 See: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/jun/09/food-aid-suspended-in-ethiopia-after-widespread-and-coordinated-thievery Accessed 10 June 2023. Food distribution to the refugees had been resumed by September 2023 (UNHCR-WFP 2023).

18 In 2022, ARRA changed its name to Refugees and Returnees Services (RRS). I use ARRA for earlier references and ARRA/RRS for current ones to avoid confusion.

19 Fafo is an independent Norwegian social science research foundation: https://fafo.no/en/about-fafo/fafo

20 See: https://fafo.no/en/projects/current-projects/flyktninger-og-okonomisk-utvikling

21 At the time of fieldwork in 2019, it was 900 birr a month.

22 All names have been changed.

23 See: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/7/29/eritreans-refugees-rally-for-relocation-and-protection Accessed 15 November 2023.

24 For example, a family of four got around 10 500 ETB; a family of 8 was given 15 000 ETB; singles 6500 ETB.

25 School drop-outs risk being rounded up for military service even earlier.

26 Reuters 17 January 2019: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ethiopia-refugees-rights/ethiopia-allows-almost-1-million-refugees-to-leave-camps-and-work-idUSKCN1PB2QH Accessed 13 January 2023.

27 Eventually, I had a translation done in Tigrinya of Part 4, Rights and Obligations of Asylum-seekers and Recognized Refugees, which among a host of issues deal with access to work.

28 See Wade E. Pickren (2014) for a historical overview of the concept of resilience.

29 According to World Bank numbers, economic growth was around ten percent yearly during 2004-2017 but started to decline after the regime shift in Ethiopia in 2018: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG?locations=ET Accessed 14 November 2023.

30 See: https://www.fitchratings.com/research/sovereigns/fitch-downgrades-ethiopia-long-term-foreign-currency-idr-to-cc-02-11-2023 and https://www.fitchratings.com/research/sovereigns/fitch-downgrades-ethiopia-ltfc-idr-to-c-14-12-2023 Accessed 21 December 2023.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the Norwegian Research Council/NORGLOBAL: Grant number 288788.

Notes on contributors

Thera Mjaaland

Thera Mjaaland, is a Norwegian social anthropologist with a PhD in Gender and Development from University of Bergen, Norway. Knowing Eritrea and Ethiopia since 1993-94, she has been researching extensively in Tigray, North-Ethiopia since 2001 on gender issues and education, sexual and reproductive health, and lastly also, refugee livelihoods during protracted displacement. She is affiliated with the independent social science research foundation Fafo, Norway and Institute for Environment, Gender and Development, Mekelle University, Ethiopia.