The Big Gamble: The Migration of Eritreans to Europe

by Milena Belloni

A free open access ebook is available upon publication. Learn more at www.luminosoa.org. Tens of thousands of Eritreans make perilous voyages across Africa and the Mediterranean Sea every year. Why do they risk their lives to reach European countries where so many more hardships await them? By visiting family homes in Eritrea and living with refugees in camps and urban peripheries across Ethiopia, Sudan, and Italy, Milena Belloni untangles the reasons behind one of the most under-researched refugee populations today. Balancing encounters with refugees and their families, smugglers, and visa officers, The Big Gamble contributes to ongoing debates about blurred boundaries between forced and voluntary migration, the complications of transnational marriages, the social matrix of smuggling, and the role of family expectations, emotions, and values in migrants’ choices of destinations.  

242 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 17, 2019

Reviews

[Bill on GR Sabbatical · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fascinating ethnological study of voluntary Eritrean migration to Europe, generally via Ethiopia or Sudan, almost always with hopes to then reach Italy, and then on to Scandinavia, Canada, the U.S or other final destinations, where economic success might be achieved. Belloni reports that national service requirements of indefinite length and with poverty-level compensation drive many young people to leave the country. They leave to be able to afford to marry and start families, but also to send remittances to their families back home, to help siblings to emigrate also and to support family who will stay. She explores the dangers of being smuggled across borders and the Mediterranean, how reaching each transit country influences decisions to risk attempting the next in a similar manner to the behavior of some gamblers, and ethical considerations of doing fieldwork with vulnerable populations. Recommended. Available free from UC Press as an Open Access e-book, including on Kindle.

[Ken Schoeters · Rating 4 out of 5]

An at times so recognizable, but mostly extremely eye-opening read that will no doubt help to shape my own strategies and goals in my daily dealings with Eritrean refugees.

Thank you, Milena, it is already on my "want to re-read" list to further internalize your findings. ;-)