Sara Markos was one of the Ethiopian migrants who had gone to Lebanon with hopes of changing her life.

She had toiled for 13 years until her palms formed a rough callous texture from washing too many dishes to the point that most digital scanners can not read her fingerprints.

The mistreatment got to its peak as Sara recalls having food sent to her from an Ethiopian neighbour upstairs using a rope through her bedroom window.

"I was given a single meal a day and one tea sachet for four days," Sara told Fortune.

The struggle continued upon her return when she discovered that her husband had remarried and used the remittance she sent to purchase real estate. Sara experienced a nervous breakdown where suicidal thoughts haunted her.

All that has passed.

Sara is now a deputy administrator at Egna Legna, a non-profit organisation that provides skills training for returning women from the Middle East. The mother of one feels to have found a purpose in her role at the foundation, helping others find a footing in their homeland.

The foundation was formed in Lebanon by 13 Ethiopian women under the leadership of Banchi Yimer in an effort to provide money and legal representation for women overseas. Egna Legna currently offers free hairdressing and sewing courses for 200 women.

"We just want our voices to be heard," Sara told Fortune while looking at the women coming to the sewing class.

Sara's story is a glimpse that echoes through the lives of 132,000 immigrants that found their way back home from the Middle East in the past two years.

An International Labour Organisation (ILO) study from 2017 shows that most Ethiopian migrant workers in Gulf countries (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman) are engaged in forced labour, confiscation of passports, maltreatment and withheld payment of salary.

The situation exacerbates for women who are part of the Kafala sponsorship system, a custodial framework that administers employment modalities for migrant workers in the Gulf countries where a staggering 100pc in Oman, 81.8pc in Lebanon and 75.5pc in Kuwait are employed as housemaids.

While slight differences exist in implementation between countries, the system stipulates how long a worker must serve (usually two years) before switching employment or leaving the country and entitles the sponsor to powers over visa renewals and work permits.

It closes the doors for wage negotiations and causes workers a host of health problems. Meanwhile, debt bondage, confiscation of travel and identity documents, fear of deportation, or threat of denunciation to authorities undermine the migrants' ability to resist.

Last year's initiative to provide humanitarian medical care in Lebanon by Doctors Without Borders recorded 7,686 medical consultations where workers suffered from diabetes, hypertension, musculoskeletal, gastrointestinal, and respiratory diseases, the largest proportion of them being Ethiopian.

In an attempt to facilitate their return, the Ministry of Women Children & Social Affairs (MOWCSA) had partnered with several international organisations.

According to Communications Officer Dereje Taye, many of the returnees had migrated from regional states without a clear understanding of what to expect. A survey revealed that 74pc of these returnees did not have their expectations met, while 89pc of them advise others not to undertake the journey.

To resettle the stranded immigrants, Dereje indicated that the Ministry ensures that they reintegrate with society while revealing that repatriating migrants to other African countries is the next phase of the program.

Unemployment and poverty lie at the heart of this trend.

Following an agreement to send hundreds of thousands of "trained workers" from Ethiopia to Saudi Arabia between the ministries of Labor of the two countries, unknown job horizons burgeon for desperate youth while lush remittance earnings make their way.

With hopes of changing the narratives associated with traffickers and dangerous routes during migration, the federal government has actively undertaken recruitment and training of blue-collar labour exports.

In line with that, the Ministry of Labor & Skills has been giving training to tens of thousands of women headed for employment in Saudi Arabia over the past five months.

According to Mulu Keneni, deputy director of the Training & Institutional Capacity Desk, a 21-day course that entails housekeeping, cooking and basic technology literacy to nearly 70,000 prospective migrant women through 77 outlets across the country.

The trainees are awarded a Certificate of Conformance (CoC) upon completing the course which is passed on to recruiters with contacts in the Gulf. Whether the time or quality of training is enough to master the skills is debatable.

"We can't really attest to their competency," said Mulu.

Meanwhile, business is booming for agencies that are beneficiaries of the expanded demand for Ethiopian workers from Gulf countries. The area around the agency is teeming with prospective migrants, brokers who offer easy access to passports for hefty sums and security personnel clearing away unnecessary queues.

Seid Nejnima managed recruitment agencies for the past decade. He collects a commission fee of 900 dollars from each worker going abroad through Mambo Agency.

Upon receiving the COC certification provided by centres designated by the Ministry, Seid connects with offices in Saudi Arabia or Jordan to facilitate a visa and work permits. Agencies will be liable for any costs arising from the worker leaving their assigned post in under three months.

Seid argues that problems do not arise as long as workers maintain their end of the bargain, mentioning that most of the contracts presented to the prospective women are for a period of two and a half years.

However, Seid observes in desperation to make a finer living, some opt to abandon their posts and look for employment opportunities outside their visa horizons which leads to detention and suffering.