12. The IOM’s Crisis Management and the Expulsion of Ethiopians from Saudi Arabia

Between November 2013 and March 2014, 163,018 Ethiopians were expelled from Saudi Arabia. The large-scale humanitarian operation set up to support the deportees can be considered to belong to a ‘crisis management’ framework. The creation of camps around Addis Ababa is emblematic of the incorporation of humanitarian logistics into post-deportation management. But the operation can also be understood as a trial run for future operations for receiving and reintegrating deportees. Since the legitimisation of forced returns through humanitarian devices and project funding are central to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and its policies promoting ‘sustainable returns’ and ‘reintegration’, this post-deportation device should be seen within a broader framework of migration management, which involves the IOM, states, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and private actors. Is it still relevant to speak in terms of ‘crisis management’ or was this case a test of a sustainable model of post-deportation assistance consistent with the global approach to migration promoted by the IOM?