Mekelle፡Telaviv, Nairobi, Pretoria, London, (Tigray Herald).
“They Would Rather Die Than Stay”: Tigray’s Youth Exodus Reflects a Region in Ruin
By Gebre Tatios
In the past two years, more than 56,000 young people have fled Ethiopia’s war-scarred Tigray region through dangerous and illegal migration routes, seeking a life beyond borders that have become, to many, synonymous with despair.
This staggering figure, confirmed by the Tigray Regional Youth and Sports Bureau, is a grim reflection of what happens when an entire generation is left without options politically abandoned, economically stranded, and psychologically wounded.
“Many no longer wish to live in Tigray,” said Ato Hadush Sibagadis, head of the bureau. “They are leaving not just out of ambition, but out of desperation.” Their destinations are often Saudi Arabia, Libya, or Europe routes infamously lined with human trafficking networks, extortion, and death.
In a region where over 70% of youth are unemployed, the numbers aren’t just statistics; they are cries for help. Tigray’s political paralysis, economic collapse, and social fragmentation following years of war have left young people with a single, tragic choice: to risk their lives for a sliver of hope.
And many pay the ultimate price. Just in the first three months of this year alone, 294 youth lost their lives attempting the perilous journey abroad.
The Scars of War and the Burden of Silence
Tigray’s youth were once seen as a force of resilience defenders during conflict, dreamers during peace. Today, they are orphans of the war, not only in the literal sense but also metaphorically: they are a generation abandoned by the state, ignored by the world, and preyed upon by smugglers who exploit their pain for profit.
The region is still struggling with the aftershocks of war: destroyed infrastructure, stalled reconstruction, and a glaring absence of political will to reintegrate and empower returning youth. Officials say 25,000 migrants have returned, mostly from the Gulf, yet many are already preparing to leave again, facing the same hopeless conditions that drove them out in the first place.
This revolving door of migration is being fed by an organized network of over 1,400 human traffickers, many of whom have been apprehended in recent crackdowns. Of those arrested, 613 individuals have been charged, while 76 have been convicted.
But enforcement alone won’t stop the outflow. What is needed is a vision for the future of Tigray’s youth a post-war generation that, if not supported, may continue to erode into a lost one.
A Region Bleeding its Future
The youth crisis in Tigray is not just a regional tragedy; it is a national and continental one. Ethiopia cannot afford to ignore the hollowing out of its northern highlands. Africa, too, must reckon with the forces that are turning its youth its most precious resource into refugees of their own homeland.
This is a humanitarian emergency disguised as a migration story. It is the slow bleed of potential, hope, and dignity, unfolding in silence, as the world looks elsewhere.
If there is any political courage left in Addis Ababa or Mekelle, it must manifest in urgent, youth-focused reconstruction. Otherwise, the exodus will continue not just of bodies, but of belief in a better future.
Gebre Tatios is an East African analyst and writer covering authoritarianism, conflict, and liberation politics in the Horn of Africa. He contributes to the Tigray Herald and international publications.
