Paper short abstract:

By focusing on the Ethiopia-Sudan border, the paper argues the fluid character of mobility in and out of Ethiopia does not align with how international hegemonic discourses categorize migration as ‘legal’ and ‘illegal’ and its interpretation into national and regional policy frameworks.

Paper long abstract:

The global agenda to improve safe, orderly and regular migration impacts migration policy, which frame particular forms of movement as ‘acceptable’ or ‘illegitimate’ and labelling of migrants as ‘legal’ and ‘illegal’. Drawing on the Ethiopia-Sudan border, this paper traces how international hegemonic discourses are incorporated into national and regional policy frameworks, and how different actors (including government officials, community and business leaders and civil society) share a common understanding of what constitutes safe, orderly and regular migration.

Mobility along the Metema-Gallabat border, a crossing point from Ethiopia to Sudan, shows different recognition of migrants within the different contexts takes place, unfolding through and with the border. Going beyond the simplistic narratives of ‘illegal’ and ‘legal’ based on attaining legal documents, the concept of ‘illegality’ is applied in contexts of increased risks. Further, illegality shifts while migrants, using tourist visa, and thus ‘legal’ becomes 'illegal' as they do not fulfill the criteria for being tourists and overstay their visa. Among the local communities, as well, regardless of their legal status, migrants are condemned as ‘illegal’, sometimes objectified due to the economic contribution they bring, given names that degrade their status to a mere object. Further, these categories go through a process that is affected by economic interdependence, generational divide, historical narratives, state politics, and gender, among others. Therefore, by looking into the categories of ‘legal’ and ‘illegal’, this paper sets out to understand how mobility is defined and represented in national and local experiences in Ethiopia and Sudan.