Hiwot Wolde Adebo

• Migration, mobility and urbanization

• Ethiopia
• South Africa

Lecturer, Researcher

BA in Development Management

MA in Social Policy for Development

Migration, Social policy, Children and Youth , Development

BMZ via DAAD

Navigating through the Roughness: Ethiopian Migrants’ Lived Experiences and Migration Decision Making in South Africa

Migration decision making is a complex process not only because it involves various actors in addition to the actual migrant, but also because it is a result of a series of decisions. From the inception of the migrating idea till the moving action takes place migrants/potential migrants are required to make a number of decisions that may include if they actually have to relocate; where to go, when to leave, how to finance their journey, and whom to contact. Researchers divide this decision-making process into three phases namely: pre-decisional, planning, and the moving phase. However, the realization of the moving plan would not guarantee migrants to settle in their new aspired destination. As migration is a never-ending process and there is no such thing called a true ‘destination’, migrants may happen to need to revise their prior decisions and make a new one whether to stay, return or move on. This research will be looking at the decision-making process and the contributing factors in the context of migrants’ living environment at the receiving end. The study mainly focuses on Ethiopian migrants who have been through a lot because of xenophobic violence against African migrants and the high rate of crime in South Africa. Using social Navigation theory, Network theory and the concept of trans-location Positionality, the research tries to understand migrants’ lived experience in their host environment. This ethnographic study aims at achieving a deeper understanding of the target population’s situation through a closer look at their stories, challenges, and overall struggle with the socio-political system in the country.

PD. Dr. Eva Youkhana

Dr. Girma Kelboro

CV Hiwot ZEF.pdf [PDF]