A mother’s heartbreak

In this fourth instalment of our series on Oromo refugees and migrants in Yemen, we shift our focus to the plight of refugees who are mothers, sisters, and daughters – and the particular vulnerabilities they face as female refugees in a conflict-affected zone.

Here we tell the story of Degalee, a mother from Harar, Ethiopia who risks her life daily to help the Houthi migrant detention bombing survivors, despite bearing her own scars.

Degalee

The last time Degalee saw her youngest child, then a seven-month-old baby, the foundations of her life had just come crashing down. 

Three days earlier, Ethiopian security forces seized Degalee’s husband and killed him in front of her and their six children in their own home. As her husband was murdered, Degalee recounts how she was forced to stretch out her body in front of her children – a human barricade to prevent them from risking their lives by running to their father.

It was 2012, a period of extreme crackdowns by the then-government on any perceived opposition to their regime. Many ethnic Oromos were arrested or killed for their supposed links to the opposition party, the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF).

In the days after the attack, knowing that the security forces would return for her, Degalee was forced to flee her home, leaving her children behind in the hope they would be protected from further retribution. Not knowing where she was going and simply fleeing for her life, Degalee found herself sucked into a tragedy of human trafficking, exploitation, and hardship that continues to this day.

In the ten years since her husband was killed, Degalee has dedicated her life to doing what she can to help others. She no longer knows where her children are, or even what they look like, but says they are constantly in her thoughts. In this exclusive report, we share Degalee’s heartbreaking story.

The political context: 2012 

The early 2010s were a turbulent period in Ethiopia. The federal government, led by the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), was engaging in mass crackdowns on political opposition and dissent with a particular focus on ethnic Oromos. In 2009, the government adopted a restrictive Anti-Terrorism Proclamation (highly criticized by human rights organizations for outlawing basic civil liberties), which was being used to justify the arrest of both journalists and members – perceived or otherwise – of the political opposition. By 2011, the EPRDF had proclaimed the OLF a terrorist organization.

As a man of wealth and an Oromo, Degalee’s husband was killed based on the suspicion that he was supporting the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), although, as was typical at the time, no evidence was given to support this claim prior to his arrest and execution. Instead, security forces shot him down in front of his family with impunity.

According to Claire Beston, Amnesty international’s Ethiopia researcher at the time, “The Ethiopian government’s relentless crackdown on real or imagined dissent among the Oromo is sweeping in its scale and often shocking in its brutality.”

The horrific events that took place in Degalee’s home on that fateful night were an all too common occurrence for Oromos at the time. But it is those mothers, wives, and daughters left behind in the tragic aftermath that today we wish to commemorate, particularly those who were forced to flee the country for their own safety.

A vulnerable woman

When Degalee fled her home in Awaday, Oromia ten years ago, she had just become a widow. She was dealing with the trauma of her husband’s murder mere days before and knew that she was now alone and without protection in extremely vulnerable circumstances. 

Degalee first fled to a neighboring country, Djibouti. Unfortunately, before long, she was ensnared in the grips of human traffickers who demanded she either pay for her freedom or face being sold into the modern-day slave market. It was in Djibouti, caught in this human trafficking ring, that Degalee tells us she was first raped. The shame of this remains with her, and she tells us that she has never told anyone, not even the UN, of what happened to her. 

Degalee recounts how she was put up to be sold once the traffickers had transported them to the Yemen border. Here, she caught the attention of an Oromo man, who, sympathizing somewhat with her plight, bought her and promised his protection in return for marriage. Like many other women in her situation, Degalee decided to take the chance that this man would be a safer option than the other realities she faced being sold into, and so she agreed to marry him.

Degalee’s story is not uncommon. As shown in a U.S. Department of State 2016 Trafficking in Person Report on Djibouti, Djibouti is a “source, transit and destination country,” for individuals subjected to human trafficking, including both forced labor and sex trafficking. Ethiopian migrants and refugees, who often seek safe passage to Yemen and Saudi Arabia from Djibouti, frequently find themselves caught up in smuggling networks that have been known to charge exorbitantly high rates or kidnap and detain migrants for ransom. According to the report, “some migrant women reportedly were  subjected to domestic servitude and forced prostitution in Djibouti to pay these ransoms.”  

This smuggling industry of persons from Ethiopia to Djibouti and finally into Yemen is reportedly highly profitable,  according to the 2017 Expertise Francais Djibouti Country statement ‘Addressing Migrant Smuggling and Human Trafficking in East Africa’, which said that it was “conservatively valued at a minimum of USD 4.5 million per year.”

According to the UN, at least one in five refugee women and girls will experience sexual violence. It is regarded as one of the worst global protection challenges, leaving all refugee women at risk of rape or other forms of sexual violence. The stigma and shame that accompanies sexual violence mean that many women are not comfortable coming forward with their experiences, while patriarchal cultures such as Djibouti and Yemen tend to be relatively permissive of male violence and aggression towards women. According to the 2010 UN Country Assessment on Violence Against Women, Somali and Ethiopian refugee women are particularly affected by this phenomenon. They are “first faced with violence at the point of departure from their country of origin, and further targeted during their boat trip to Yemen…[where] they are faced with continued discrimination and abuse.”

A tragedy repeats

Degalee has lived as a refugee in Yemen with her new husband for several years now.  She still feels a strong connection to her fellow Oromo migrants and refugees, and so has taken on the responsibility of distributing the food and monetary assistance that comes from NGOs to Oromo refugees. Alongside a team of nine volunteers, Degalee also helps those affected by the 2021 Houthi bombing of the migrant detention center, including the two young men, Sultan and Faisal (you can read about their story here), who remain in hospital. 

It is a risky business; the Yemeni officials do not look kindly upon those involved in helping Oromo refugees and migrants who were victims of the Houthi bombing, and she knows her safety would be at risk if they were to discover her identity. Because of this, she fears going to the UNHCR for assistance in case information trickles back to local officials, despite grave concerns for the survivors and the lack of medical care they are receiving, 

In a cruel repetition of fate, her new husband was arrested by Yemeni officials three months ago for what she describes as “suspicion of exposing human rights abuses against Oromos in Yemen”. Degalee suspects that someone ratted him out to authorities – a common reality in a refugee camp that is closely monitored by officials for any such activity.

Despite many attempts to locate her husband, Degalee has heard nothing of his whereabouts and doesn’t even know if he is still alive. Yet, despite her personal challenges, Degalee continues to aid the survivors in the hospital. Without her, she tells us, they would receive little to no assistance and she feels she cannot abandon them despite the risk.

Conclusions

It is difficult for Degalee to see what the future holds for her. In Yemen, the situation is bleak: Oromo migrants and refugees face discrimination and racial bias in a country already mired in conflict. Returning to Ethiopia presents another deep challenge. Not only is the situation deeply unsafe, Degalee fears that her children would not accept her after so long apart. There, she would also have no work and no way to support herself.

In recounting Degalee’s story, we hope to shed light on the myriad of impossible choices women thrust into her position are forced to make. From having to leave her children behind, to sexual violence and even being traded like cattle, Degalee has experienced countless ordeals that no person should have to endure. Yet, despite this, she continues to dedicate her life to assisting others, even at great personal risk.

We urge the international community to take note of Degalee’s story and to step up and make more concerted efforts to tackle the scourge of sexual exploitation and human trafficking throughout the world, particularly along the smuggling route from Djibouti to Yemen and Saudi Arabia. 

Much like Degalee herself, OLLAA calls for greater awareness of and support for the survivors of the Houthi bombing. We also call for the international community to do more to assist the many courageous refugees like Degalee who continue to face a heartbreaking and uncertain future.

OLAA extends our special thanks to those who have shared their stories with us – for their courage in bringing to light the atrocities happening in our midst. We also wish to thank our incredible group of volunteers who made this possible by conducting interviews and translating the stories of the refugees we encounter. It is our hope that in doing so language cannot be a barrier to the important task of shedding light on human rights abuses. 

Contributing volunteer: Biftu Adema.