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The strategy will offer help and promote sustainable livelihoods for migrants impacted by conflict, protracted crisis, climate change andthelack of jobs in the region.
"We hope that this new strategy will contribute to the economic and social prosperity of the country but also to the welfare of migrants,” said StéphanieDaviot, IOM's Chief of Mission in Djibouti. “This is the result of consultations conducted for several months with all relevant stakeholders."
Launched in the capital this week, the strategy will help coordination between the country’s institutions on migration laws, policies, and future legislation, as well as promoting awareness of the rights of migrants, and their humanitarian and protection needs. It will also support the National Coordination Office for Migration, which is the main interlocuter for partners working in the area of migration.
With a population of only a million people, Djibouti is bordered by Ethiopia, population 112 million, and Somalia, with more than 15 million people, and thousands of migrants mostly from these countries head through Djibouti seeking safety, security or work, primarily in the Gulf nations. Over half (55 per cent) of the more than 9,900 migrants who arrived in Yemen from the Horn of Africa in the first half of 2021 had travelled through Djibouti, then across the Gulf of Aden.
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Manydiealong the way, from starvation and dehydration in harsh desert conditions. Hundreds are targeted by traffickers and smugglers, risking exploitation and gender-based violence. Increasingly, women and children are transiting through Djibouti. According to theIOM Missing Migrants Project, 97 migrants, including 16 children, have died crossing the Bab al-Mandeb Strait for Yemen since the beginning of 2021.
IOM'scountrystrategyfor Djibouti (2021-2024)willsupportimplementationof thegovernment'sinitiative andenhancecollaborationbetweenkey migration stakeholders in the country,includingcivil society andotherUNagencies.
Thedevelopmentof the NationalStrategyon Migration andIOM’sDjibouti planwasfinancedwithintheframeworkof theEuropeanUnion-funded"Sustainablesolutions for themostvulnerablehost populations,refugeesand migrants in Djibouti"project.
"This newstrategyisadecisivesteptowardseffective migration management, in accordancewiththecommitmentsmade by theRepublicof Djibouti,duringthesigningof the Global Compact on Migration in 2018,"saidDjibouti'sMinisterofInterior,SaidNouhHassa.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of International Organization for Migration (IOM).
Media files
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International Organization for Migration (IOM)