IOM Djibouti Appeals For Funds to Aid Vulnerable Stranded Migrants
African Press Organization (APO)/ – IOM Djibouti is
urgently appealing for USD $5 million under the UN Consolidated Appeal
Process (CAP) 2013 to be able to provide life-saving humanitarian
assistance to a growing number of vulnerable, stranded Ethiopian
migrants in Djibouti.
IOM Djibouti has received no funding under the CAP to date, despite
the continuing need to support vulnerable migrants, particularly the
women, who are increasingly being abused on the migration route by human
smugglers and traffickers. (The US$72 million sought by humanitarian
agencies in Djibouti under the 2013 CAP is currently only 6% funded.)
Every year more than a hundred thousand migrants, mostly Ethiopians
but also Somalis, continue to make the extremely hazardous journey
through Djibouti in the Horn of Africa to Yemen and the Arabian
Peninsula in search of a better life in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf
States.
They walk on foot for weeks over the vast, unforgiving desert from
Ethiopia and Somalia trying to reach Obock in Djibouti. Djibouti has
been suffering more than six years of continuous drought and the lack of
water has increased tensions between local communities and migrants.
Many of the migrants die on the way and many others are exploited by
criminals.
IOM is appealing for funding to continue to provide crucial support
to stranded migrants. This includes an active mobile outreach campaign
to sensitize migrants to the risks of irregular migration and
trafficking in remote and border areas.
IOM also runs a Migrant Response Centre (MRC) in Obock, which
currently provides counselling services, hygiene promotion and medical
support including referrals for severe injury cases to the District
Hospitals of Tadjoura and Obock – the two regions that receive the
highest numbers of migrants en route to Yemen. The resources of both
hospitals are stretched to the limit, supporting both local communities
and the migrants.
The MRC has registered an increasing number of Ethiopian migrants
desperate to return home under its Assisted Voluntary Return (AVR)
Programme. In the first three months of 2013 IOM helped 161 Ethiopians
to return home, up from 10 in the first three months of 2012 and 69 for
the whole of last year.
IOM registers AVR applicants and liaises with the Government of
Djibouti and the Ethiopian Embassy to issue them with the necessary
travel documentation. It also provides food, shelter, medical assistance
and arranges their return transportation. There are currently 20
migrants awaiting return to Ethiopia at the MRC in Obock.
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