http://www.abcfoxmontana.com/story/29476898/africans-seeking-better-lives-pass-through-ethiopian-town
Africans seeking better lives pass through Ethiopian town
By ELIAS MESERET
Associated Press
METEMA, Ethiopia (AP) - The mood in the border town of Metema these
days is quiet and watchful.
Dozens of houses on the hot, dusty main road that stretches from
Ethiopia into Sudan look like they have been hastily closed. Guards
grimly patrol the border, stopping anyone who looks to be trying to
cross the border illegally. The nightclubs and bars are emptier than
usual, although they still attract Sudanese who are not allowed to
drink alcohol in their own country under Shariah law.
Metema, with about 100,000 people, is one of a handful of towns across
the region that serve as feeders for a booming trade in migrants from
Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia and Sudan, many hoping to make their way to
Europe. Life here is now a cat-and-mouse game: The authorities are
cracking down, yet the migrants just keep coming, often risking death.
Since 30 Ethiopian Christians who passed through Metema were killed by
the Islamic State group in Libya a few months ago, the Ethiopian
government has become far more vigilant. It claims it has detained 200
smugglers across the country, and police say about 28 of them are from
Metema.
The effect of the crackdown is clear in this town. But while the flow
of migrants is down from about 250 a day, it's still strong at 100 to
150, according to Teshome Agmas, the mayor.
"It's just a pity that people choose to endanger their lives in an
effort to move out of their country and work in inhumane conditions
abroad," he said.
Getachew Merah, a rail-thin 30-year-old aspiring migrant from
Ethiopia, agreed to talk to the Associated Press, but only outside
Metema, because he was afraid police would arrest him. He has made
three unsuccessful attempts to cross into Sudan, and is now trying
again.
Merah said his father is dead and his mother lives in extreme poverty
in a rural village in the Amhara region. He added that he has tried
just about every job in Ethiopia, working as a butcher, a guard, an
assistant in a heavy-duty truck, a laborer carrying oil back and forth
from between Sudan and Ethiopia and more. But he simply can't get
enough money to change his life or his family's.
He hopes to earn money in Libya to send back to his family, and
eventually return to start his own business.
Three times before, Sudanese police arrested him and sent him back to
Ethiopia. Each time, he said, he didn't have enough money in his
pocket to bribe the police. So this time, he is planning to enter
Sudan as a daily laborer on a farm and earn about $150 - enough for
bribes - and then disappear into the forest to reach the capital,
Khartoum.
"I'm tired of working in Ethiopia," said Merah, who was clearly
nervous. "I know the dangers of living now in Libya, especially with
the ISIS news. But I want to risk it all and try my luck."
Close to 80 percent of Metema's businesses are run by smugglers and
their affiliates, according to Sister Hamelmal Melaku of the Ethiopia
Higher Clinic. They smuggle charcoal, oil, fruit and, of course,
people. With the government sweep-out, migrants are no longer showing
up at the clinic, and the temporary shelter built for migrants in the
middle of the town sits idle.
"I think it won't be an exaggeration if I say that the town is totally
out of the government's control," she said.
With Metema under surveillance, the smugglers are now changing their
tactics, according to Abraraw Abeje, police assistant inspector. He
said they are now "dumping" the migrants in forests and mountainous
areas, and then forcing them to resume their journey into Sudan on
foot or in packed vehicles.
Like the migrants, the suspected smugglers say they are poor. Adamo
Anshebo is under detention in Metema as a suspected kingpin, which he
denies.
"I came here after selling all my property to receive and take back
home to my sick child, who was working in Sudan," he said. There is no
way to tell if it is the truth.
Poverty in Ethiopia fell significantly from 44 percent in 2000 to 30
percent more than a decade later, according to a World Bank report in
January. However, the country remains one of the world's poorest and
is ruled by an authoritarian government. More than 96 percent of
people in the country's rural areas are still barely eking out a
living, according to Oxford University's poverty index.
Ethiopia is also a pass-through point for most Eritreans traveling to
Europe, according to the U.N. refugee agency. While exact numbers
vary, Eritreans make up one of the largest groups of migrants crossing
the Mediterranean, coming second in number only to Syrians. Somalis
are third.
According to accounts from several migrants and officials, here is how
the trade works.
The smugglers operate in and from all parts of Ethiopia. While major
smugglers stay in cities like Addis Ababa, the capital, affiliates
known as "shaqabas" operate in and around small towns like Metema,
Moyale to the south and Afar in the northeast.
The migrants say they are not asked for money in Metema, because they
could easily be robbed or lose it. Instead, they are charged upon
arrival in Khartoum or other Sudanese cities. The final payment is
made once they reach the Libyan coast and, in many cases, depart for
Europe. The trip to Europe can cost as much as $5,000. Often the
migrants don't carry all their money for fear of being robbed, so
payment is made through their families, via hand transfer to the
smugglers or affiliates in their hometowns.
In a statement written to The Associated Press, Metema officials said
they have repatriated more than 1,100 migrants arrested while trying
to cross to Sudan illegally. The letter said they come from all parts
of Ethiopia, especially the south, as well as Eritrea. Ethiopian
immigration officials on the Sudan border confirm that some of the
migrants are foreigners, and more now from South Sudan because of the
ongoing conflict there.
Other migrants tell similar stories of poverty. Two women in their 20s
traveling together, who refused to give their names for fear of their
safety, said their only reason for migration is economic. They, too,
said they wanted to work abroad, then return home to help their
families and start their own business. Both have not worked in
Ethiopia since completing high school.
Another young man, Abinet Yirga, 23, said his job in a billboard
advertising company in Addis Ababa did not even leave him with enough
money to buy clothes. He said two years ago, he was out of work for
many months, which led to a feud with his father. He is now in Metema
waiting to cross the border.
"I don't know when I will travel to Sudan and then to Libya to go to
Europe, because I don't have any money now," he said. "But I've
decided I have to change my life whatever the cost is, even if it
means life or death."
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Received on Sun Jul 05 2015 - 11:44:43 EDT