This thesis examines the lifeworlds of Somali returnees in Ethiopia. Their experience of flight and return is distinctive, shaped by the history and culture of the Somali people and the political and economic conditions of this part of Africa. In emphasizing this distinctiveness, this thesis is an implicit critique of recent efforts by academics and aid agencies to homogenize the experience of refugees in this region and elsewhere. In Ethiopia, "development" and humanitarian aid, in interaction with political contests at many levels, provide the context for interpreting refugee experience and action. Globally, the most powerful of the reductionist accounts is based on the "trauma model" of refugee experience. In this model, "refugee experience" has come to be virtually synonymous with "psychosocial" and, in turn, "mental health" and "post-traumatic stress disorder" (PTSD). Somali refugees and returnees in Ethiopia, however, do not address violence, death, and war-related distress in a framework of psychological medicine, with its goal of reducing psychological, emotional and physiological symptoms of individual distress. Rather, such distress is predominantly assimilated into the framework of politics, with its goals of survival and restitution. Emotion, and talking about emotion, evoke complex individual and collective memories that situate individual and local community experience within, or in juxtaposition to, other realities: competing powers such as the Ethiopian and other states, dispossession, and the precariousness of survival in a harsh natural and political environment. Historical narratives, collective memory, anger, and the rhetorics of development and humanitarian aid play important roles in these communities' efforts to rebuild social networks and what they refer to as a "decent human life."

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This is a heuristic study about successful Ethiopian refugees in British Columbia. Heuristic research is another building block of phenomenological inquiry; it permits the researcher to discover his/her lived-experience within the phenomena. This research explores and discovers the lived-experiences of participants as articulated feelings and views on their sense of identity. Each participant's stories stand for the realities of who they are and how they made the transition of reconstructing their identity as a means of assimilating into Canadian society. Furthermore, their stories describe the patterns and processes of negotiation and re-negotiation of their identity in order to become successful in their new social environment. This research highlights ten participants' processes of adapting into a new environment, reconstructing their identity, and embracing change. Although the explored experiences represent only those who made a successful transition and reached a high degree of adaptation and assimilation in Canadian society, the results of this study provide a deeper understanding of Ethiopians in general, the integral role of culture, and its influence on individual identity to most immigrants. The study provides imperative information, as told by Ethiopians, to community, practitioners, professionals, and scholars as well as adds new knowledge about the complexity of Ethiopian immigrants' stories as no one had asked them before this study. The study found that participants whose tribal background was considered to be of a minority and experienced oppression and discrimination by the dominant tribe in Ethiopia, coped well with reconstruction of identity as well as with barriers in the Western world. Those who were rooted from the dominant tribe in Ethiopia, experienced adaptation and assimilation in the Western world difficult and at times intolerable. Similarly, the individual definitions of success and failure are associated with the strength of, or in-depth knowledge of one's sources of identity and the degree of connectedness and interdependency. The findings are comparable to explanations of identity patterns (individual, cultural, social, and political) found in similar studies of immigrants or refugees. However, one may notice that none of the participants in this study were from the same tribe and each participant's experiences and meanings either in Ethiopia or Canada are different. Nonetheless, the general sense of identity, roles, and influences of community found in this study validated the explanations and definitions posited in the literature (i.e., associated factors for self definition as well as influences on social and cultural identity). Furthermore, the extracted meanings also have confirmed sources of identity as being congruent to the adopted theory of this research as it linked to their roots, exposure to diversity, and creativeness not only in determining their skills of accepting or rejecting their new social, cultural, and economic values, but also allowing them to select (filter) values and beliefs that are desirable to become a member of the community in their new country. / Graduate

Text in English with appendices in Afaan Oromoo (Oromo language) / Despite the imperative of reintegration assistance for returnees of illegal migration, which will enable them to become independent and productive members of the community, the reintegration needs and experiences of returned illegal migrants are neglected in academic studies. The objectives of the study were to explore the socio-contextual factors that gave rise to the illegal migration of the study participants; their illegal migration abuse and exploitation experiences; the reintegration needs they sought after return; and the responses of relevant stakeholders to meet the reintegration needs of the returnees and help them reintegrate into the community. To this end, I conducted a qualitative study in Omo Nada district in 2017. I collected the data by means of indepth interviews, key informant interviews and focus group discussions. I used thematic analysis to analyze the findings. The study revealed that the decision to migrate ‘illegally’ was the result of numerous drivers: poverty, unemployment, political discrimination, family pressure, and absence of legal means, the influence of brokers and smugglers, and socio-cultural and religious factors. The returned migrants experienced various types of abuse and exploitation, including physical abuse, economic, labour and sexual exploitation both on the migration journey and at the place of destination. The long periods of isolation some experienced also resulted in the disintegration of their families. Participants identified the need for support in the form of health services, counselling, housing, employment, skills training, finances, loans and social support from relevant stakeholders such as family, the community, the government and non-governmental organizations. Despite the many needs identified, the relevant bodies provided very little reintegration support. Due to this, the returnees were not able to reintegrate into their communities. Returning to the premigration conditions which drove them to migrate ‘illegally' in the first place, with no hope of any reintegration assistance, led some returnees to re-migrate illegally. Reintegration is a key aspect for return migration. Therefore, to be sustainable and for the reintegration process to be successful it must be widely supported. The consequences of illegal migration and reintegration support must be taken seriously and supported by the government in all its aspects. Government agencies such as the Labour and Social Affairs Office must be capacitated to provide the necessary assistance and supports to effect sustainable integration. / Sociology / Ph. D. (Sociology)

The purpose of the research was to assess the availability of public health services in response to humanitarian crises in Gambella, Ethiopia. This informed the development of a public health service protocol for humanitarian emergency responses in Ethiopia. The objectives of the study were explored and identify current humanitarian health emergency needs and responses, describe the availability of public health services required for humanitarian emergency responses, study and critically analyse different humanitarian responses in respect of health care services and related protocols in other countries, develop a context-specific and needs-based protocol for humanitarian emergency responses in Gambella, Ethiopia, clarify the policy and programme implications of such a protocol. A mixed-method research design was used to conduct the study. Data were collected from 32 health facilities to assess the availability of required resources and public health services. A checklist and in-depth interview guide were used to collect the data. The quantitative data were analysed using simple descriptive statistics using frequency distribution tables and graphs. Thematic analysis was employed to analyse the qualitative data. The study revealed a lack of resources which threatened the availability of public health services in humanitarian emergencies. The ever-increasing number of refugees overstretched the limited resources, leading to stockouts of medicines, other health commodities and equipment. The absence of emergency preparedness, poor coordination of services, coupled with a lack of integration of services exacerbated public health service delivery. The study findings informed the development of a public health service protocol for humanitarian responses in Ethiopia. The study further recommended further research on other factors that might affect humanitarian responses and coordination. / Health Studies / Ph. D. (Public Health)