This study investigates the socio-economic and demographic co uses and consequences ofrnirregular migration oJyoung adultsJi"om sOllthern Ethiopia down to the Republic oJSollth AJi"ica. It isrna cross-sectional stlldy based on sOlllple sllrvey oJ690 households with 658 eligible young adults agedrn15 10 54 years belonging /0 three migrant categories in relation to migration sIC/Ius of South A/rica,rnnamely out migrants (226), retul'l1l11igrants (/93) and non-migrants (239). The study is conducted inrnJour randomly selected woredas and then hOllseholds Ji"01ll two zones oJ the SNNPR- KembataTembarornand Hadiya-be/Ween February ta May, 2010.rnData sources include questionnaire, key informant interviews, focused group discussions asrnwell as administrative records both at local and narional levels. The dala are analyzed usingrndescription, bi -variate and multi-variate statistical techniques. Logistic regression model is alsornemployed in assessing the relationship between migration slat us and age, sex, marilal status,rneducation, employment, occupation and income, residence, birth order, elhnicity and religion.rnThe major findings oj th is study are: the irregular migration down to RSA is enormouslyrndominated by males (over 80%) and adults oj age between 20-34 (57%). It is alsa Jound that thernmajority oj migrants' childhood residence is rural (73%) and 28% oJthe sampled migrants are firstrnborn child. Moreover, the study showed the presence oj non-linear relationship be/ween householdrnsize and migration status. Highest percentages oj migrants (95%) are literate and this is dominatedrnby those having secondary education. It is also Jound that the movement oj young adults fromrnsouthern Ethiopia to RSA is facilitated by a ne/Work oj human smugglers Jound in Addis Ababa,rnHossana, Dilla and Nairobi. The main cause for the irregular movement of adults is found to be notrnabsolute but relative poverty and 44% of thetll left their homeland Jar reasons of perceived belterrnopportunities in RSA, and only 8.5% oJthe cited poverty as the main cause.rnThe multivariate analysis showed that sex, age. education status and birth order havingrnsignificant impact on the youth to migrate or not while household size, place oj childhood residence,rnzone, marital and employment status as well as religion found to have no significant impact. As to thernconsequences, the study showed that most of return migrants (58%) are unemployed before theirrnmovements to RSA but now over 92% of them are employed. The study a/so showed that the majorityrnof returnees are earning high income now than beJore, and also more than that of non-migrants. Onrnthe other hand, highest proportions of smuggled migrants reported thaI their journeys were harshrnwith unexpected negative consequences. They also noted oj robbery and theft while they were in RSA.rnThe study concludes by suggesting some policy recommendations for intervention in handling thernirregular movement of youth as well as the need Jor detailed research.rnKey Words: Youth, Migration, Smuggling, Hossana, Opportunities, RSA