In February of 2019, Hirut D. Gebretsadik, a local media professional and a graduate in social policy and social work, and I traveled to the Amhara region in northern Ethiopia. There we met Zebiba al-Hussein, a mother of three, who shared the story of her long journey home from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia where she was trafficked as a domestic worker. Although she longed for home the entire time she was away, her homecoming was not the reunion she expected. Almost a decade later, the memories of what happened have added another layer to the challenges of dealing with stigma, finding work, and caring for her family.
Almost two years after we met Zebiba, the political and economic situation further deteriorated with conflict in the northern region of Tigray, sending some 50,000 refugees into neighboring Sudan and eclipsing the steady migration of men and women like Zebiba who were already leaving.