Research on the livelihoods of refugees in Egypt indicates that they are mostly engaged in informal economic activities, women as domestic workers and men as street vendors. In the Egyptian context, domestic work is devalued, is void of rights, and exposes the person to the risk of physical and sexual abuse. However, it is a highly demanded job and thus provides a gateway to income earning to families who otherwise might have find it difficult to survive in Egypt. Moreover, it offers benefits that go beyond the income received to include benefits in kind such as meals, clothes, and lending in times of difficulties. Has the situation of foreign domestic workers been affected by the Egyptian revolution? A study conducted by the researcher on Sudanese livelihoods in the few months after the revolution documented concern about increased insecurity and xenophobia. There are reasons to assume that such concerns are becoming real. Egypt’s economy has deteriorated in the last two years; the budget deficit increased, foreign currency reserves have declined, the internal debt is high and GDP growth is stunted. Recruiting domestic workers is associated with a particular social and economic class or aspiration of belonging to such class. Did the economic situation in Egypt have an impact on the demand for foreign domestic workers? Which group of migrants and refugees is mostly affected? Were they laid off or were their salaries cut? What are their coping strategies? Has the xenophobic attitude towards migrants/refugees increased with the revolution? How does it affect domestic workers who share the same household? These and other questions are covered by the research. The methodology adopted for this research is qualitative using in-depth interviews with a selected sample of foreign domestic workers from different migrant and refugee communities in Cairo. Sudanese women who were interviewed right after the revolution have been interviewed again to evaluate their experiences after two years. Women from other migrants and refugee groups are interviewed documenting their experiences in the past two years of the revolution.

Cross-border mobility has not been a recent phenomenon in Ethiopia. However, in comparison with the previous patterns, it is not only the volume but also the intensity and complexity of contemporary migration trends that render today’s version of the Ethiopian outmigration unprecedented in many ways. One important element contributing to these shifting and complex patterns of migration is the recently adopted policies of the Ethiopian government which have been systematic engaged in developing its labour export in a direction targeting mostly the countries of the Middle East. While research and evidence are citing the benefits of outmigration to Ethiopians and their families, including how remittances remain a key financial coping mechanism for otherwise destitute families. Little is known on the situation, perception, and developmental impact of migrant workers who decided to return to Ethiopia; and in particular the disadvantaged groups of migrant women who have initially left the country on labour contracts basis as domestic workers in the countries of the Middle East. This paper calls for the inclusion of the impact of migration on the under-theorised return migration of domestic workers within the contemporary debates and discourses on migration and development. In doing so, the paper aims, first, to highlight the conditions and specific concerns that Ethiopian migrant women domestic workers have to encounter in the Middle East. Secondly, it explores the types of networks which are developed by these women and which enables them to ‘contribute’ and remain connected to their families and communities in Ethiopia. Thirdly, the paper demonstrates the perceptions of Ethiopian migrant domestic workers and their strategies for return or for extending their stay abroad. Finally, the paper highlights the impact of return migration on the Ethiopian women domestic workers living in Addis Ababa; including the challenge to socially and culturally reintegrate and the difficulty to meet the presumed high expectations by family and friends in terms of the social and economic status of the returnee. The findings of this paper are based on a fieldwork carried out in the summer of 2008 among Ethiopian migrants in Khartoum, Cairo, and London as well as among the Ethiopian returnees in Addis Ababa.

The political events that have taken place in Yemen since the beginning of 2011 have not only greatly affected the local population but also migrants and refugees residing in the country. While Yemen was for a long time mainly regarded as a sending country in migration, since the early 1990s it has also turned into a receiving country. After the outbreak of the civil war in Somalia and the downfall of Mengistu’s regime in Ethiopia the numbers of migrants and refugees to Yemen have been growing exponentially. Most of them aspire to move on to the oil-rich countries on the Arabian Peninsula or to Europe and North America, but get stuck in Yemen for longer or shorter periods of time. While job opportunities for male refugees and migrants were very limited, migrant and refugee women could easily find employment as domestic workers in urban areas. The events of the past two years have had a great impact on migrants and refugees. As a result of the deteriorating economic and political situation many migrant women lost their jobs while migrant and refugee men were accused of siding with the government or the opposition. Yet, the political instability has also resulted in a weakening of immigration policies and irregular migration from the Horn of Africa has increased. In this paper I will describe and analyze the gendered impact of the Yemeni crisis on migration from the Horn of Africa, with particular attention for domestic workers. Which changes have taken place in Yemen’s domestic labour market? Is there still a demand for paid domestic labour and who is filling that demand? How have migrant women responded to the crisis? And how are newly arrived male migrants supporting themselves? The paper is based on anthropological fieldwork in Yemen in February 2013, the analysis of media reports and secondary sources.