Hawi Teferi, 29, first left Ethiopia 10 years ago.

The life-changing decision to set out to a faraway place was driven mainly by factors out of her hands. She needed to support her family and escape mockery for squandering a shot at a better life. A quiet, curious woman, Hawi was born and raised in Wellega, Oromia Regional State.

Before she went to the Middle East, Hawi was a first-year student at Arba Minch University, studying management. Her mother was able to provide a semblance of financial support back then, selling locally-distilled spirits (areqe). Things took a turn for the worse when her mother fell ill, leaving Hawi to bear the burden of providing for two younger siblings.

“I had no choice but to migrate to support my family,” said Hawi.

Like hundreds of thousands before her, Hawi packed her belongings and left her small, rural province in western Ethiopia for a better income in Saudi Arabia. She came into contact with intermediaries, who arranged her trip. In 2012, a plane took her to the oil-rich country. She was an illegal immigrant.

Hawi's experience in the Gulf state was far from what she had expected. She was subject to the notorious kafala system, where her employers would be in charge of her legal status - almost every aspect of her life. The harsh system has gained a dark reputation among migrants in the Middle East. However, the sordid tales do little to discourage the tens of thousands who make their way there each year. Most have stories similar to that of Hawi's.

Hawi was not paid for the first seven months. Not having work permits made the situation unbearable, leaving her struggling to find a decent job. She eventually landed one as a housemaid in the Saudi capital, Riyadh. Hawi earned around 2,000 Saudi riyals a month (equivalent to 27,000 Br at the current exchange rate). It was more than she could have hoped to make here, but it came at a high cost.

Hawi was among hundreds of thousands of illegal migrants taken into custody by Saudi officials as part of a crackdown that gained momentum in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Migrants were afforded a 90-day amnesty, during which they could leave the country without facing harsh consequences. Many were unable to do so, subsequently arrested and packed into dense detention centres. These are places with "conditions so degrading that they amount to ill-treatment," according to a report by Human Rights Watch, released in December 2020.

Hawi was taken to a deportation centre in Riyadh before being transferred to a facility in the port city of Jeddah. She spent nine months in custody.

“My life crumbled before my eyes when I was arrested,” she said.

Two weeks ago, Hawi returned to Ethiopia for the first time in a decade.

She was among the 21,000 Ethiopians who returned beginning March this year following an agreement between the Ethiopian and Saudi governments to repatriate close to 100,000 Ethiopian migrants over 11 months. Over a third of these migrants are women and children. Officials say the repatriations will continue, with nine flights a week to bring migrants like Hawi home.

This is not the first time Saudi officials have resorted to deporting migrants.

Following the ratification of a foreign workers' law in 2012, the Saudi government had deported migrants from Ethiopia, Egypt, and Yemen – en masse. They claimed to have aimed at reducing unemployment.

Nearly 165,000 Ethiopian migrants were forcibly repatriated in four months. It was doubled the following year. The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) reported that close to half a million Ethiopian migrants were repatriated in 2017.

Despite leaving for the Middle East to earn better wages, most migrants return empty handed. Hawi is one of these migrants left with nothing. Returnees say they are faced with difficulties upon arrival in Addis Abeba, where support from the government and humanitarian agencies is insufficient to meet even essential needs. They are quickly ferried to one of nine shelters in the capital.

According to Fresenay Gebeyaw, communications officer at the Ministry of Women & Social Affairs, the government provides food, medical care, and sanitary items at the shelters. Social workers are also available for counselling. However, returnees can stay for a short 24 hours before receiving a 1,000 Br transportation stipend and being shown the door.

Hawi stayed less than six hours. She left for her hometown in the West Wellega Zone.

Officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were unwilling to allow reporters to visit one of these shelters. Neither were their counterparts at the National Disaster Risk Management Commission and the Ministry of Labour & Skills cooperative to grant the media access.

Nonetheless, the rehabilitation of returnees remains a significant challenge for the government. Officials admit the reintegration process has been painfully slow. It is left unaddressed due to the sudden and forced repatriation. Programmes supporting returnees in integrating and making a living after making it back home are undeveloped and under financed. Officials say the government has appealed to donors for support.

The IOM estimates that 11 million dollars is needed to support over 100,000 migrants scheduled for return in the coming months. Disappointing responses from donors make it a daunting prospect, leaving the government and its partner humanitarian agencies in limbo. A statement from the IOM released last December says living conditions for returnees are dire. From access to safe water and sanitation to basic health services and critical non-food items, much is in demand, reads the statement.

Worsening security concerns have made it impossible for many of the 70,000 migrants who returned last year to make their way to their hometowns. The civil war in the country's north, and armed conflicts in the south-west, have meant that many ended up stranded in Addis Abeba. It is not any different for the recent wave of migrants returned.

Hawi made her way back to the capital three days after arriving in Wellega, an area where an active insurgency has sprouted. She says safety concerns pushed her to return to Addis Abeba, where her younger sister was willing to take her in.

"I don't know how long I can stay here,” she told Fortune.

Hawi sees many returnees she knows are in a similar predicament.

It is a life impacted by illegal intermediaries who send migrants to countries that do not have bilateral labour agreements with Ethiopia.