Good morning! We're just a couple of hours away from our human migration chat. Leave your Qs here or on Twitter with #EdenWalkChat.

Greetings to everyone tuning into our second campfire discussion!    

We're joined by Paul Salopek who has finished the first leg of his journey through the Rift Valley of Ethiopia to Djibouti — Paul, can you offer a quick update on where you are, where you're headed before we get going?

I've just dismebarked in Saudi Arabia after being stranded for more than a month in Djibouti. Piracy has strangled off all passenger rides on cargo ships across the Red Sea. (Insurance woes.) But I finally managed to hitch a Sierra Leonean-flagged livestock boat to Jeddah. My passage was easy—three days holed up at sea with 8,000 sheep and 855 camels. By comparison, at least 100,000 African migrants make the same crossing of the Red Sea—but illegally, in rickety open boats that often capsize, killing scores every year. That's what we're here to talk about today—the huge wave of human migration taking place today not just Africa, but across the world. The UN estimates that 200+ million people live outside their countries of origin. Many hundreds of millions more are on the move inside their own coutries. Why is it happening? What are the push and pull factors? 

I am joined today by Bakary Doumbia, the director of the International Office of Migration in Djibouti, to help us tackle this subject. Welcome Bakary.

Paul, As you’ve written, humanity had a ‘near extinction event’ between 60,000 and 90,000 years ago. Please remind us of the factors that drove early humans to finally leave Africa. What do we know about the role of climate, and the natural environment, in that momentous migration?  

Scientists are still debating that. Some say a massive mega-drought kept us bottled up in Africa--and then the greening of the Middle East was a pull factor.

Hi Paul, Thank you for inviting me to the chat today

Hello Bakary -- can you please tell us more about your organization, the International Organization for Migration. What kinds of programs do you run in Djibouti?

Hi Bakary. great to se you again. One of the
last times we met was at a Coast Giard base in Djibouti.

Yes, that is correct

While we wait for Bakary's answer, let's migrate on ahead. I certainly empathize with slow connections in djibouti.

Bakary, can you give us some idea of how many migrants pass out of Africa every year? How many pass through Djibouti?

while we wait for Bakary -- Paul, a note for you.

Hi Paul! Been following your incredible journey from the beginning! Thanks for the inspiration. First Q: how do you feel after 400 miles of walking and a long boat ride?

It's been a bit dizzying jumping on a boat and not only moving so far--about 600 miles--but hopping sub
continents. Very different ones.

In DJibouti, IOM runs a Migrants response center in Obock, in Coordination WIth Governement of DJibouti.

Bakary--I think the numbers of "clandetsine" migrants out fo the Horn of Africa alone is +100K right?

Can you both speak to the rate of migration in the African Horn now? Is the rate increasing? What are the main factors moving people today (vs the environmental 90,000 years ago)?

Climate change (droughts) economic pull in Saudi Arabia (which is booming with high oil prices)....

I don't know how big the human river was in the past, but today, from gournd level, it is huge--I passed hundreds walking in the desert.

The Migrants Response Center mainly works to inform migrants on the dangers of irregular migration. Sensitizes of existence of regular migration ways. Offers help to migrants willing to return voluntarily to their country of Origin

Here are a few facts and figures on Djibouti population  via IOM.  

Do the migrants come from all over Africa, or only regions that are nearby?

They carried alomost nothing. A Plastic jug of water. Some barley gruel. We're talking walks of hundreds of miles.

@Marooned: Mostly from Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somlia. But sometimes from as far away as SouthA frica--that's like seeing someone from Uruguay at teh Rio Grande.

The Migrants response center (MRC) also supports Government to provide lifesaving support to Migrants, including Health assistance. The MRC supports the rehabilitation of community wells to increase water coverage for local community and migrants.

The students in Columbus who are part of Project Zero want to know if you have seen any children migrating and if you have any idea how many people die each year trying to make a better life for their families?

Hi Kim. I did se older children--maybe 15. The dead are hard to count. They vanish in the desert or teh sea. I saw seven people who didn't make it.

Migrants crossing from Djibouti mainly come from Ethiopia (80-90%) and Somalia (10-20%).

Bakary, do you know what percentage of migrants are ‘illegals’?  

As bakary knows, this is a very harsh exodus. The migrants know they face thirst, robbers, drowning. They are THAT desperate to have a better life, they risk death. It's hard to count them--much less their legal status.

There is about 100,000 migrants crossing the Gulf of Aden each year.

Bakary--is that number growing?

All are irregular migrants

Where are all these people going? Persian Gulf? Europe? Turkey?

The number has continued to grow.

It has been interesting for my students to be able to make the connection between what you are experiencing in Africa and what they know about Mexicans attempting to cross illegally into the United States, because they want a better life. My students would like to know if you have had the opportunity to talk to any of the smugglers. God Bless You and keep you safe on the rest of your journey. Kim Perea

The ones I met with on the desert trail were headed to Saudi Arabia, to work as menial laborers, often on farms (men) and domestic helpers (women).

In 2008, there were about 50,000 irregular migrants. Last year (2012), 107,000 irregular migrants.

People are going to Gulf states, Europe at later stage.

Yes, Kim. I interviewed smugglers. What strikes me is how poor they are--at least at the field level. Bakary can talk about the international mafia that runs the human trade out fo Africa. But the enbalers are often destitute nomads, teh Afar (guides, etc.)

Are the migranst usually single men, or do you see whole families on the move?

The poor "moving" the poor.

Most of the times, they are single. 
We have however seen an increased number of women and children, most of the times unacompanied.

Bakary--I mostly saw young men. Only a handlful of very brave women...What does your data show?

And the women are particularly vulnerable right?

Migrants are very poor, vulnerable during the trip.

So, are these children who lose their families along the journey? Why are they doing this alone?

We have been reported an increased rate of forced migration once migrants leave their country and find themselves in another country as irregular migrants

Bakary, I encountered children who were headed to relatives already working in the Gulf. An amazing solo journey for a young person--doubtless a life changing, bruising, hardening experience

Beating, hostage taking, request for family to give more money before migrant can be released to continue travel are increasingly being reported

Ah. Incredibly vulnerable. Bakary, can you paint a picture of the actual journey? How treacherous, physically, is the crossing of the Bab al Mandeb?  

More reported also is the amount of rapes taking place on the route of migration.

Women and Children remain the most vulnerable on this route

It's called the "Strait of Grief" for a good reason: fast currents and storms sink ships. Imaging being packed--100 people aor more--into an open boat that's only 35-5o feet long. SOmetimes, people get crushed to death in this ships.

@seejy: It's more like "lure." Harvesting dates in the Gulf for $300-$400 a month is considered a golden ticket to success.

Before talking about the crossing to Yemen, We need to note that Djibouti has a vast desert land. Temperature goes up to 50Degree C between May and August. During that period is when the biggest number of death are registered.

Yes--I I walked past scores if not hundreds of graves near the Ethiopia/Djibouti desert.

Please also note that Djibouti has gone through more than 6 years of consecutive drought. Water resources are scarce, making it difficult to share between migrants and local population.

Bakary - @seejy's question is a good one. As migrants make the passage, are they then finding work? Are they sending money home to their families?

As I mentioned earlier, several migrants die in the Djiboutian desert before reaching the sea crossing point in Obock

And it was drought that many thousands of rural Ethiopians were fleeing. Quite a gantlet. I've govered migration all over the world. This was the the most brutal passage I've seen.

Bakary--what does Djibouti do with the migrants it apprehends?

The crossing is done with boats in very bad conditions and overloaded. Most to nearly all migrants do not know how to swim, making the crossing even more dangerous

More on the humanitarian crisis — the IOM has appealed for $5 million in emergency aid to help stranded Ethiopian migrants.

Migrants apprehended are handed over to Ethiopian border authorities at the border in Galile

What happens to the migrants when they land? If they escape detection, do they live as fugitives in their host countries. If caught, are they deported, or just kept in jail?

On a walk out of Africa following the pathways of the first human "migrants," the irony was not lost that they, too, "lacked papers."

Varies by country, Don. Many hundreds of undocumented migrants live on the margins through the Gulf region. Much like the US.

Does the migration tend to be one-way, i.e. migrants only leaving off the African continent not to return, or is it more transitory, seasonal, like the US/Mexican border?

Once migrants make it through the harsh ways of Djibouti (Desert, drought, smugglers,...), and they managed to cross the sea, they land in Yemen.

In YEmen, the problems they face does not end. Migrants have reported a lot of human right violation while in Yemen.

Jeff: The ones I met had plans to stay years abroad. It s so hard to get out of Africa, you don't go back until your fotune is made...if at all.

@Paul - what kind of work are they finding to make that "fortune."

Bakary, you might be better versed to answer @FKL6. I know there are sporadic camoaign to round up irregular migrants. As in most counntires, it depnds on the local economies. Oil prices go up? The Gulf states relx their vigilance, because they need teh workers.

Considering these migrants are irregular, several people take advantage of them during and after their travel when they arrive at their planned destination

I met a lot of Ethiopian pastoralists who were headed to the Arabian Penninsula to work as herders--much like the Basque in the US.

Some are treated quite well, and stay their entire lives. Others suffer human rights abuses, but can't report them. Much like Texas, or anywhere else.

In addition, they face deportation whenever they are caught by authorities. This makes them work in the Dark and accept bad treatments from employers.

To give sense of scale -- more than 100,000 migrated through Horn of Africa last year. There were 19.3 million international migrants in Africa in 2010, according to IOM. 46.8% of those were women.

A sight I will never forget: 

The beaches of Djibouti littered with actual "dunes" of abandoned migrant belongings. Litterally tons of personal stuff--shoes, diaries, knapsacks. . It was haunting, as if people simply stripped off their clothes and walked into the Red Sea.

Paul, Bakary - can you help us understand the magnitude of global migration. Is what we're seeing today the largest mass migration in human history?

I think we are indeed living in an age of epic mobility--much of it spurred by human misery. The numbers in China alone, while tapering off, are staggering--something on the order of 100 million people on the hoof. It makes the Dust Bowl look puny.

Report indicate that 1 in seven person is on the move. This gives an idea of how many people are on that move.

Some of these people are regular, some irregular migrants.

We started out restless, seeking reosurces to live, when we wandered out of Africa 60,000 years ago. Those pathways are still being used today--deep grooves of human yearning worn into the land.

Some travel within their own country in search of better life, some travel to other countries in search of that better life

Couple of questions about how many of these migrants are legal/illegal. Bakary - can you explain the difference between regular/irregular?  

Because this migration is all illegal and because they have nothing really waiting for them on the other side . . . wouldn't this really be considered a mass exodus?

What defines a "regular" migrant? They have received a visa or work permission? And how hard is it to get that?

Migration, when done orderly benefits migrants, the host country and the country of origin of origin.

Kimi--it sometimes seems to me like the mass evacuation of Africa. It staggers the eye to see it in action. It is simply overwhleming. Heartbreaking. But keep in mind the population scale--there are nearly a billion peope on the continent. If the numbers are right, we're talking les than 2 percent on the move--massive, but not like classic emigration centers such as Mexico.

Obtaining proper documentation before travel makes the main difference between regular and irregular migrants

Marooned: "Regular" means fully legal. A golden visa. A legitimate job waiting. Very very rare.

That's right. Less than 2% are migrants. Full stats at IOM here.  

With the overwhelming numbers of people on the run, is there ANY orderly exit taking place. Do these migrants really have a means of filing out in orderly and with legal conduct?

Kimi--yes. it's a brain drain. The legal diasporas of countries such as Somalia, Congo, etc. are mostly highly trained people, or the very wealthy. South Africa, for example, has lost many of its best nurses to the UK.

Greetings for Paul from the U.S. —  

Paul, abrazos from California.do you think of the migrants you are tracing as permanent? Do they keep ties to home and imagine they will go back someday?

Sorry, I had connection problems. Process to obtain documentation depends on the country of Destination and the need of employment.

Bakary, you should weigh in on this, too. 

In my eperience, no: Once they get out, they tend to stay out. "Out of Africa" often means a permanent exit. Though there are backflows among teh business community--to Somalia, for example, or Ethiopia, as economies improve.

Bakary - thank you so much for joining Out of Eden Walk readers today for this discussion. Before we wrap up, just wanted to ask about your aid efforts. With so many people on the move across the continent, how are you able to draw attention to Djibouti to help the thousands in trouble there?

Once migrants move out, Depending on the reason of their moving out, they either come or do not come back until that problem is solved. As example, if reason for migrating is persecution, migrant will not come back until he feels security is better for him to do so.

For people migrating for economic reason, they tend to come back if they are sure they have documentation to travel back.

In all cases, migrants keep contributing to the family expenses through money transfers

Bakary--thank you so much for being with us here today.

I hope people go to this site to see the scale of problems humanitarian groups face in trying to get a handle on the vast and growing human migration through the Horn of Africa, our once and future corridor of exodus:

http://www.iom.int/cms/en/sites/iom/home/news-and-views/press-briefing-notes/pbn-2013/pbn-listing/funds-urgently-needed-to-aid-vul.html
 

Yes, thank you. And thanks to you, Paul. You have landed now in Jeddah -- can you give us a sense of what the next big trek will be for you? And how you're feet are holding up? :)

Thank you very much for this question. As I indicated below, the problems of irregular migration is a challenge to migrants themselves, the local community and the Government of Djibouti. It has been difficult to mobilize resources for lifesaving activities in DJibouti. Of the 6,000,000 USD requested under the CAP 2013 to help vulnerable migrants, less than 10% has so far been mobilized.

I'm getting my land legs back after the Red Sea crossing, walking the camel souks outside Jeddah, looking for two camels that have been waiting here their entire lives for a skinny guy in a cowboy hat to show up, and take them--against their will, poor beasts--north, into the Levant.

Feet registering no complaints.

Thank you all. A pleasure to be here.

This year particularly, we have seen in increasing number of migrants requesting for help for a dignified return to their country of Origin. Resources have taken time to materialize and IOM is finding more and more difficult to support.

I would like to use this opportunity to call for donors support to help vulnerable and stranded migrants.

Thanks again for being here, Bakary, and for your efforts. And thanks to all who joined  #EdenWalkChat  — until next time!

Thank you very much Paul for inviting me today to the Chat. Good continuation in your walk.