Overseas Job Push Evokes Hopes at Home, Hardship Abroad

Apr 20 , 2025.

Mufariat Kamil, the minister of Labour & Skills, recently told Parliament that her Ministry had created 3.4 million new domestic jobs in nine months of the current fiscal year. She also touted an annual target of sending 833,333 workers overseas. Official figures, however, reveal that less than half of these have been placed abroad, an uncomfortable gap between grand plans and the harsher reality she confronted.

Defending her strategy before members of Parliament, the Minister cited surging youth unemployment and the country’s need for foreign exchange. Remittances already contribute about three percent of the GDP; hence, sending large numbers of citizens abroad is seen as a job-market release valve.

Closer scrutiny, though, uncovers troubling details. Many recruitment agencies, tasked with placing workers overseas, have charged desperate job seekers as much as half a million Birr, leaving many stranded without real prospects. Some culprits dash the hopes of many thousands with false promises of job placements in countries where there are no bilateral agreements signed with Ethiopia, such as Romania.

The authorities' ambition to send as many as half a million workers overseas each year has put it on a path to become one of Africa’s largest labour exporters to the Middle East and beyond. However, behind the official fanfare are harrowing stories. Millions of Ethiopians migrated illegally along hazardous routes, despite a ban on overseas domestic work from 2013 to 2018. Over roughly the same period, legal channels accounted for only around 460,000 placements in the Middle East, revealing a mismatch, uncovering how desperation can push people into clandestine journeys.

These dangers persisted. In 2021, for instance, 19,000 workers found legal job opportunities abroad, even as Saudi Arabia deported over 48,000 Ethiopians in a single month. Such figures cast doubt on the authorities' assurances of orderly migration. It also shows the dire consequences of clamping down on irregular travel while failing to offer safe and legal alternatives. Success will depend on protecting their rights.

Today, gaping loopholes and lax enforcement threaten to turn an otherwise helpful policy into a conveyor belt of misery. Migrants report gruelling working conditions and emotional torment, with few options for redress. Their families, left behind at home, often endure anxiety, debt, and financial strain, especially if a loved one disappears or is trapped in forced labour.

Muferihat's Ministry seems ill-prepared to rein in these abuses. Predatory behaviour flourishes where regulation is weak. Ironically, Muferihat's Ministry has collected over 113.4 million dollars in recruitment fees from overseas placements without ensuring basic safeguards.

The government’s willingness to collect hefty fees from agencies and migrants yet remain slow to offer basic safeguards should raise ethical and economic concerns. Failure to implement an effective system of oversight risks alienating domestic support and prompting international rebuke. In the worst cases, dire stories of exploitation or death overshadow any remittance gains, undermining the national vision.

It would be unfair to place the entire blame either on Muferihat's or squarely on her Ministry. Responsibility should fall across multiple federal agencies, including Foreign Affairs; Women, Children & Youth; Education; and Trade. However, clear coordination among these and their accountability remains elusive. Under such lax oversight, some employment agencies register as consultants with the Ministry of Trade while carrying out recruitment tasks that should be monitored by the Ministry of Labour & Skills.

Such a loophole lets the predators operate with little scrutiny and portray themselves as officially endorsed. The federal government reportedly takes in 700 to 800 dollars for each worker sent abroad, while more than 400,000 prospective migrants are stuck in complicated certification processes or subject to the whims of unscrupulous intermediaries. That the authorities continue to promote these placements, despite alarming reports of exploitation, exposes a worrying gap in labour migration policy.

Legislation addressing these problems has had mixed results. A law passed in 2016, and updated five years later, was designed to tighten licensing requirements for private recruitment agencies and mandate pre-departure training. Over 120,000 Ethiopians reportedly found legal jobs abroad within four months of 2023, and the total passed 160,000 in the first five months of last year. The federal government has also concluded bilateral agreements with various Gulf states, promising improved protections for workers.

Ironically, the depressing accounts of migrants continue. Passports are being siezed by employers, 18-hour workdays are the norm, and wages are left unpaid. Thousands still attempt dangerous desert treks and treacherous sea crossings through war-ravaged Yemen, where conflict deters few. A national survey in 2021 recorded over 51,000 Ethiopians missing, with 13pc confirmed dead.

From the authorities’ perspective, exporting labour in large numbers serves two principal goals. Curbing unemployment at home and securing a steady influx of remittances, a vital source of foreign exchange. Officials often emphasise how money sent back by workers in the Gulf and elsewhere can lift entire families out of poverty. But, if ill-treatment remains undeterred, tragic stories will continue to unfold.

Repeated reports of forced labour, rampant wage theft, and abusive working conditions reveal the dark underbelly of these grand schemes. Each horror story of physical or psychological harm echoes beyond the immediate victim, rattling collective morale and raising questions about the wisdom of pushing so many overseas. The more Ethiopia’s overseas-labour plans expand, the more urgent it becomes to enter into genuine cooperation among ministries and enforce credible oversight.

Diplomatic breakthroughs and formal accords may impress on paper, yet the real test is whether the country can protect half a million annual migrants from harm.

Understandably, Mufariat's Ministry alone cannot shoulder such responsibility, given its limited capacity. A specialised intra-agency entity to manage every aspect of overseas employment could be of help. Such an entity would coordinate across ministerial lines to ensure that agencies acting illegally are swiftly sanctioned and that only legitimate firms obtain permits. It would also work with diplomatic missions to help stranded citizens return home, a vital lifeline for workers trapped in dire circumstances.

The Philippines can provide a model worth emulating. It deploys 2.3 million workers each year but has robust safeguards in place through the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration. With an annual operating budget exceeding 300 million dollars, it offers legal support, financial aid, and repatriation services. A strict regulatory system may not have stopped large-scale labour exports, but it cuts down on abuses.

Eventually, Ethiopia’s aspiration to become a major labour exporter should be guided by respect for human dignity. Clear rules and credible accountability should accompany any agreement with foreign governments. If half a million migrants are to head overseas each year, the state has a duty to ensure that they are not merely channelled into harm’s way. Diplomatic engagement, new legislation, and the creation of a well-funded federal oversight agency could change the grim situation and provide a measure of security.

Real action, however, will require shrewd diplomacy and public funds directed toward saving lives, rather than simply reaping fees. One tragic death, after all, can draw more attention than a thousand stories of overseas success.

PUBLISHED ON Apr 20, 2025 [ VOL 26 , NO 1303]

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