Insteresting definition by cavortingcheetah. So all these FR or sometimes AC guys going massively to EK have an "inability to meet the standards set as the norm within the aviation industry in that country" yet they go to a place "where the standards of aviation development, safety and skill either may be or usually are at a significantly lower level than prevail in the country from which the pilot is seeking to becoming an ex patriate."
Expat doesn't necessarily means unemployed or unable to find a job in one's own country, as those guys prove to us by jumping ships to go to a better paid job, and better T&C's even though they were perfectly qualified and were flying for rather large airlines in their home countries. But they now fly for a reputed airline which I believe is not so easy to get into, and has standards just as high or even higher than their preceeding ones.There are dozens of reasons why one would become an expat, let's not reduce them down to two or three phrases.
Now for oompilot, I'd like a list of those european countries using "affirmative action" as I live on the old continent and would really be interested in moving there! The only place I know where that method is being used outside SA is the US. But having lived there for 3 years, pilots don't fall under that law, at least not directly.
Now, to get back to the thread, the Ethiopian gig is definately not the best in the century, at least not for a westerner, but could be great for an African expat working for a company only paying him let's say half of that. Just an example.