Migration Along the Eastern Corridor (March 2024)

• Overall exit movements from Ethiopia increased by 18% in the last month, marking the highest number of movements tracked since 2018, and an increase of 1% compared with the previous highest figure reported in December 2023 (18,119).

• The number of movements leaving Ethiopia due to conflict, violence or persecution multiplied more than eightfold between February (84) and March (731), which may be attributed to clashes between the Fano militia and government forces. In fact, all movements tracked due to conflict, violence or persecution departed the Amhara region, from where one in ten was looking for safety.

• Returns to Obock and Tadjourah decreased by 32% in the last month. This may be linked with the period of Ramadan, where the number of patrolling authorities in Yemen decreases and crackdowns on movements toward Saudi Arabia generally easen.

• The number of women (+9%) and children (+72%) tracked in Bossaso increased by more than a quarter (+27%). This increase was acute in girls, which more than doubled (+166%, from 121 to 322), while the number of boys increased by 44% (from 397 to 570).

• More than 400 migrants (385 Ethiopian, 25 Yemeni, and 1 Somali) were deported from Oman to Yemen, while in Ta’iz Governorate, a truck heading towards the north of the country that was smuggling 109 Ethiopian migrants was intercepted at a security checkpoint.