Illegal Ethiopian Immigration is a very complex and serious problem in Djibouti. John and I have seen many Ethiopians walking together in groups along the backroads near our compound and on our way into Djibouti City. Most of the walkers are young men. Sometimes, you will see a young woman or two. They always carry water bottles wrapped in burlap or jerry cans (yellow plastic containers originally used to house cooking oil) filled with water. It takes 9 days to walk from near the northern border of Ethiopia across the hot, barren Djiboutian countryside to Obock, a small village on the northeast coast of Djibouti. North of Obock, where the mangrove swamps are, they hope to find a smuggler's boat that will take them across the narrow passage of the Gulf of Aden to Yemen. Then from there, they make their way to Saudi Arabia.
The promise of a better life, jobs and money in Saudi continue to lead many of these Ethiopians to risk their lives. And, many perish in their attempt to make this passage. Many more are rounded up, put into cattle trucks and taken to the Djibouti and Ethiopian border and released with no water, food or transport back to their original homeland.
They are vulnerable and mistaken in their beliefs of a better life on the other side of the water. Guest workers, in Saudi Arabia and the Emirates, are not treated well. As many billboards picture around this country attest, illegal immigrants can become household slaves, prostitutes, unwilling kidney donors and worse. But, still, they come even in the hottest part of the year.
Since June, the Gendarmes in our area have rounded up hundreds of illegal immigrants daily and taken them back across the border. These immigrants steal the precious water of the local nomads and villagers. They bring infectious diseases like TB. These roundups in the countryside appear to be very humane. The Gendarmes are gentle with them and feel genuinely sorry for them. The roundups that are done in Djibouti City tend to be quite inhumane. There documented and undocumented Ethiopians are extorted from by the local police, mugged and treated like animals. This happened to one of our legal documented Ethiopian mechanics, Samuel. Once he was thrown over the border, it took him 5 days to get back to his home in Addis. A truck driver, with the promise of money when he got to Addis, gave him a ride. This we learned is how many of the myriads of truck drivers who carry freight from the port of Djibouti to Addis make money on the side.
During the first two weeks of June, Salt Investment used our backhoe to bury eight Ethiopians who died near us. Most of the bodies were found by nomads walking with their camels or local goat herders. We always use our heavy equipment to help the villages dig graves in this impossibly rocky environment. But, to bury so many poor souls who died anonymously in this harsh environment in such a short period of time, was very sad.
I am told that most of these Ethiopians come from small villages on the barren, northern border of Ethiopia. They continue to receive money and encouragement from Saudi businessmen to make the trip. Djibouti is just a country caught in the middle of their immigration. But, because of this, Ethiopians have a difficult time in Djibouti. If you are an Ethiopian child, you are not allowed to go to public school. Most of the street children here, and there are many, are Ethiopian or Eritrean. A friend of mine who runs a Catholic charity here that gives help to the street kids, tells me how exploited they are. The police take advantage of their vulnerability. Many of the girls are raped and many of the boys sent to clean the prison. All Ethiopians, legal or not, must be careful about what they do, where they go and always be on the lookout. It is a difficult situation.
Pictures: The Gendarme truck filled with illegal Ethiopian immigrants picking up more illegal immigrants in front of the Salt Investment compound at Lac Assal, Djibouti (June 2010).
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