MMTF

IOM Press Briefing Note Date: 20 September 2011 More than 3,000 Ethiopian migrants who desperately want to return home have been stranded on the Yemeni-Saudi border in extremely difficult conditions for several months, with IOM unable to evacuate the vast majority of them due to lack of funds. The group of 3,000 migrants, who have registered with IOM to be evacuated, are among an estimated...

The number of people fleeing their homes in Somalia on a daily basis has been falling this month, but a growing number of Somalis have been risking the high seas to reach Yemen. In Somalia, figures compiled by a network of UNHCR partners show a significant drop in the number of people arriving in Mogadishu. UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards told journalists in Geneva on Friday that the influx of...

IOM Press Briefing Notes - Tuesday 21 June 2011 IOM Resumes Evacuation of Stranded Ethiopian Migrants from Yemen As it Continues Providing Assistance to those Displaced by Conflict – More than 1,900 Ethiopian migrants stranded near Yemen’s border with Saudi Arabia in desperate conditions and unable to return home are to be helped by IOM as it resumes a humanitarian evacuation...

At least 10 people have lost their lives in a tragic boat smuggling incident on the Gulf of Aden after a two-day journey from Somalia to Yemen. According to initial reports citing some of the original 115 passengers found on Yemen's shore near Al Hamra, some 200 kilometers east of Aden, the smuggler's boat set sail from Bosasso, Puntland in northern Somalia early on Sunday morning. Ten...

UNHCR Briefing Note - 29 April 2011 UNHCR is alarmed by the continuing deterioration of the situation in Somalia, forcing an increasing number of Somalis into displacement. The number of Somali refugees arriving to neighbouring countries during the first quarter of this year has more than doubled in comparison to the same period in 2010. Between January and March this year, nearly 50,000 new...

IOM Press Briefing Notes - 15 April 2011 IOM is resuming evacuations of irregular Ethiopian migrants stranded in Yemen in appalling conditions. The operation, funded by the UN’s Humanitarian Response Fund in Addis Ababa, plans to help some 2,400 Ethiopians to return home in the coming weeks. A first group of 120, including children and elderly people, are due to arrive in the...

UNHCR Briefing Notes 15 April 2011 This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Andrej Mahecic – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at the press briefing, on 15 April 2011, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. Sixteen people have drowned and another five are missing following two separate incidents this week in the Gulf of Aden. Nearly all were Somalis fleeing...

 SANAA, 13 April 2011 (IRIN) - The number of immigrants arriving in Yemen from the Horn of Africa since the beginning of 2011 has increased despite the current political turmoil, raising fears that the government may find it hard to provide for them. Some 21,577 arrivals were recorded by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in the first quarter of 2011, compared to 9,439 during the same period...

NAIROBI, 29 March 2011 (IRIN ) - Unrest in Yemen has prompted hundreds of Somali refugees to once again risk a deadly sea crossing, this time to return to their home country, say officials and migrants.  This year alone some 89 people drowned or went missing while crossing the Gulf of Aden from Somalia to Yemen. The worst single incident took place in late February when some 57 refugees...

  During March, DRC moved forward with its EC-funded training activities to conduct two trainings, one in Sana'a and the other in Aden. The Sana'a training held between 7 - 9 March 2011 around issues of international human rights and refugee law as reflected in the national legislation and practices in the courts. Participants included representatives from the Ministry of Justice, Ministry...

The International Organization for Migration (IOM)  conducted training on Essentials of Migration Management.  The main objective of this training is to enhance knowledge and practical capacities amongst relevant Yemeni authorities and civil society for effective migration management including, within the context, AVRR. The program on ‘Essentials of Migration...

 The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is greatly saddened to have learned this week of a tragedy in the Gulf of Aden in which fifty-seven Somalis are reported to have drowned when their boat capsized. There was just one survivor. Fifty-four of those who died were Somali refugees, while the remaining three were smugglers. The incident happened on Sunday. The only...

HARADH, Yemen, 1 February 2011 – “Please form a queue and wait until it is your turn,” says the blue-capped official from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), who manages the registration of African migrants at the departure centre in Haradh, a dusty border town in north-western Yemen. Approximately 30 men squeeze through the centre’s gate and line up in...

KHARAZ CAMP, 25 January 2011 (IRIN ) - Every year tens of thousands of Somalis risk their lives crossing the Gulf of Aden to reach Yemen in their search for safety and a better life. Many die atrocious deaths - beaten, thrown overboard, eaten by sharks, drowned or asphyxiated in the hold of crowded smuggler boats. Most Somalis who make it to Yemen simply disperse on their own, either making...

 SANA'A, Jan. 12 – Various refugee committees in Yemen met during a two-day meeting that ended yesterday to create an overall forum to establish and enhance links. The meeting was hosted by International Relief and Development (IRD) in Sana'a and included representatives from the Somali, Ethiopian, Eritrean and Iraqi refugee communities from Kharaz Refugee Camp, Aden, Taiz, Mukalla,...

ADEN, 4 January 2011 (Reuters) - More than 40 African migrants trying to reach Yemen by boat have drowned in heavy seas off the coast and a second boat with up to 40 Ethiopians aboard is missing, Yemeni and U.N. officials said on Monday. Yemen's Interior Ministry said on its website three Somalis were rescued after a vessel carrying 46 people, mostly from Ethiopia, capsized, and a second boat...

IOM delivered two training sessions on I dentification of Victims of Trafficking and Interview/Screening Techniques, in Aden on 19th-20th and on 21st-22nd December 2010, and in Hodeidah on 28th-29th December 2010. The training targeted government officials and civil society partners in the governorates of Aden, Abyan, Shabwa, Hodeidah and Hajjah/Haradh. The purpose was to introduce them to the...

UNHCR organized a round table around the theme of “Rescue at Sea: Protecting Refugees amid Threats of Piracy” in Sana’a, Yemen on December 27-28th 2010.  The purpose of the round table is to bring together all relevant stakeholders based in Yemen that are involved with Rescue at Sea operations in the Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea in order to (1) raise...

In November and December 2010, IOM organised two capacity building trainings for the coast guards of Djibouti, Puntland and Yemen, which took place in Djibouti and Yemen respectively, as part of the Mixed Migration programme that aims to enhance protection of vulnerable migrants travelling through the Horn of Africa and Gulf of Aden to Yemen and beyond. This activity, fully supported by the...

BAB EL-MANDAB, Yemen, December 23 (UNHCR) – The fishing village of Bab El-Mandab, some 190 km west of Aden, in southern Yemen is the closest point in the Arabian Peninsula to Africa. Here, in a small office by a petrol station, staff of the Danish Refugee Council (DRC), a UNHCR partner organization, meticulously record the number of boats carrying migrants and refugees from the Horn of...

On 11-12 December 2010, partners from across Yemen participated in a UNHCR organized Urban Refugee Workshop in Sana'a.The workshop was successful in increasing coordination and cooperation amongst all stakeholders in implementing a holistic urban refugee policy across all relevant governorates of Yemen.

- IOM held a training program on ‘Essentials of Migration Management’ as part of IOM’s AVR&R project, funded by the Swiss Government. The aim of AVR&R is to assist the return and reintegration of migrants who are unable or unwilling to remain in Yemen, providing pre-departure guidance, transportation and post-arrival assistance to unsuccessful asylum seekers and...

HARADH, 5 December 2010 (IRIN) - The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and humanitarian partners are scrambling to help over 3,000 African migrants stranded at the Yemeni border with Saudi Arabia, where 30 migrants have died in recent weeks.   "We are seeing a dramatic increase in migrants needing help,” IOM Senior Operations Officer Bill Lorenz said in a press...

HARADH, 2 December 2010 (IRIN) - The vast inequalities of wealth on either side of the invisible boundary between the Arab world’s richest and poorest countries - Yemen and Saudi Arabia - have come to define the small town of Haradh in northwestern Yemen, where aid agencies are scrambling to help an increasing number of stranded and ill-treated African migrants.   In addition to...

Thirty migrants stranded on Yemen's border with Saudi Arabia have died in recent weeks according to IOM partners. The latest death on Tuesday highlights the urgent need to help the growing numbers of irregular migrants left there in a desperate situation. Stranded in the border town of Haradh, many of the migrants are in extremely poor health after having made the extremely long and perilous...

There is a tide of death and misery that washes up almost daily on the shores of Yemen. This is the Arab world's poorest nation, a land whose lawlessness has made it a fiefdom of al-Qa'ida, and the launch pad for the recent attempt to bring down a plane over the US. It is also at the centre of a vast people-smuggling industry.   Nearly 80,000 were trafficked by criminal gangs last year....

On the 28th of November, UNHCR together with Al Tadhamon, ADRA, INTERSOS, DRC and the Association for Developing Persons with Special Needs opened a stand in Aden Mall to exhibit and sell refugee-made handicrafts.   The stand will be running for 10 days until the 7th of December and will serve as an occasion to show that refugees are not only passive victims of forced displacement but also...

- UNHCR continues monitoring the situation of stranded migrants in Haradh, in coordination with local authorities and partners. Out of some 1,800 migrants, mostly Ethiopians who have been unable to cross the border with Saudi Arabia or have been returned by Saudi authorities, around 650 people are scheduled to return to their country of origin at the beginning of November in coordination with...

Several hundred irregular migrants stranded at yemen's border with saudi Arabia and being helped by IOM to return home, are highlighting an emerging humanitarian crisis. The migrants are part of an initial group of 2,000 Ethiopian irregular migrants registered and referred to IOM by UNHCR at the northern border town of Haradh. They represent a fraction of the growing numbers of...

The International Organization for Migration (IOM)  conducted training on Essentials of Migration Management.  The main objective of this training is to enhance knowledge and practical capacities amongst relevant Yemeni authorities and civil society for effective migration management including, within the context, AVRR.  The program on ‘Essentials of Migration...

 The Danish Refugee Council, with the support of UNHCR, conducted a 2-weeks training-of-trainers program on international protection for refugees to the administration of asylum, on October 30th to November 3rd and on November 6th to 10th in Sana'a. The training brought together 15 people either from the government or implementing partners. The audience included 17 member staff of local...

  In the framework of the project “Improving protection of migrants en route through the Gulf of Aden” co-funded by the governments of Japan and Switzerland, IOM and Danish Refugee Council (DRC) Regional Offices based in Nairobi, organized specialized database training in Hargeisa, Somaliland on October 31 st to November 2 nd 2010. This training aimed at:   1)...

-  UNHCR continues monitoring the situation of stranded migrants in Harad, mostly Ethiopians who are unwilling or unable to cross KSA’s border with Yemen or have been returned by Saudi authorities. As of the end of September, 1,357 individuals have been registered, including 836 migrants, 26 asylum seekers and 67 unaccompanied minors. UNHCR is coordinating with IOM with regard to...

UNHCR and DRC conducted the 7 th training on International Protection for Refugees in Yemen for Local Officials in three governorates (Aden, Lahj, Hadhramout) on the 28 -29 September 2010 in Aden. Members from the Registration and Civil Documentation,  Basateen and Kharaz Registration Centres, Political Security and Social Affairs, as well as members from the Education, Immigration,...

  Women at Risk” is the largest category of risk assessed during September among the new arrivals to the Yemeni shore by INTERSOS, through the risk assessment programme in partnership with UNHCR and in cooperation with other key humanitarian actors. In July and August patterns were different, with  “Unaccompanied Minors / Separated Children” as first category. The...

Ethiopia - In September, a group of 28 journalists from Ethiopia, Somaliland, Puntland and Djibouti have concluded a two-day workshop in Addis Ababa on mixed migration flows in the Horn of Africa. The training, which was funded by the Swiss and Japanese Governments, aimed to further the media's understanding of migration dynamics in the region, with a view to promoting partnerships for informed...


Delegates from thirteen countries spanning from the East and Horn of Africa, the Great Lakes region and southern Africa agreed on 8 September 2010 to work more closely in responding to the challenges of mixed migratory flows in the region. This commitment was voiced during the "Regional Conference on Refugee Protection and International Migration" that was hosted in Dar es Salaam from...

IOM convened under the EU Project, Empowering government and civil society in Yemen to address mixed migration, Training of Trainers for 8 Coast Guards officials in Aden on 1-3 August 2010. This activity is repeatedly held for different government front line officials to build their capacity and awareness to train others in the field. Within the same frame, IOM arranged a ToT in the Police...

UNHCR and DRC conducted two trainings on protection issues, refugee law and mixed migration for government officials in Bab Al Mandab (1-3 August) and Taiz (8-9 August). Police in Bab Al Mandab, the Yemeni Coast Guard, the Military Police, YRC staff, the Security in Dubab and the Armed Forces were mainly the target groups. The purpose of those trainings is to raise the efficiency of working with...

IOM Djibouti is providing emergency material assistance to a group of 700 irregular migrants intercepted in Obok yesterday. The group of Ethiopian migrants is stranded in Obok and is in need of immediate medical assistance following reports of over 170 individuals with severe diarrhea. One death has been confirmed thus far. Sixty of the migrants are currently receiving emergency care in Obok...

On August 10th 2010 in Aden (Yemen), IOM implemented an MMTF workshop for the Government of Yemen, UN agencies and INGOs on Migrants Without Protection. The idea for this workshop arose out of discussions with a number of MMTF members to facilitate recommendations to the government. The workshop objectives are to discuss solutions to boost the protection of migrants that currently do not fall...

During Aufust, IOM Nairobi held an awareness raising workshop in Djibouti, to sensitize Djibouti authorities on mixed migration flows, the risks to and consequences for migrants and host communities, and IOM’s response to those challenges. The workshop also introduced the concept of migrants’ rights within International Law and Islam. Djibouti has unique migration challenges owing to...

Under the EU - funded project, "Empowering Government and Civil Society in Yemen to Address Mixed Migration", IOM  Yemen conducted on 12-13 July a two-day training on document examination for 16 staff of Yemenia and other airlines. This activity is repeatedly held for different government front line officials to build their capacity and awareness in detecting forged documents. As...

More than 900 internally displaces people (IDPs) were pushed back to conflict-stricken Central Somalia by local authorities of Somalia's Puntland region as reported by UNHCR on 23 July. UNHCR called on the Puntland authorities to halt there push-backs, considering that people fleeing southern and central Somalia are in need of international protection. The MMTF...

“Woman at risk” and “Unaccompanied and separated child” are the largest categories of risk assessed immediately after arriving among the new arrivals to the Yemeni shore by INTERSOS through a risk assessment programme in partnership with UNHCR. From the beginning of the year until the end of June, the risk assessment programme indentified around 620 people most at...

There was a slight improvement in the security situation in south central Somali with fewer clashes. Displacement from Mogadishu slowed compared to previous months, although 12,900 people were nonetheless displaced from their homes in the capital. In the whole of Somalia approximately 20,900 people were displaced in June.

Good rains since March in most of Somalia led the Somalia Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit (FSNAU) to predict the food security situation in parts of Somalia to improve in coming months. Meanwhile, the Ethiopian regions of North Amhara and Harar remain extremely food insecure. In June, 3086 non-Somalis, principally Ethiopians, are estimated to have arrived on Yemen’s shores.

Nine Somali asylum-seekers died off the coast of Mozambique as reported by UNHCR on June 11th. They were part of a larger group of 77 Somali nationals trying to reach Mozambique by boat, and 41 of whom were forced into the water.

Following renewed heavy fighting between Transitional Federal Government troops, supported by African Union peace-keepers, and armed opposition groups in the Somali capital of Mogadishu, more than 17,000 people have been displaced according to UNHCR during May.

Since the release of new eligibility guidelines on the protection needs of Somali asylum seekers by UNHCR, an incident of forced return was reported, with over 100 Somalis deported from Saudi Arabia to Mogadishu in mid May. UNHCR appealed to all states to uphold their international obligations with regard to non-refoulement. Returns to central and southern Somalia must only take place on a...

UNHCR and NASCRA held a protection workshop in Aden where the following recommendations were made: Somalis holding valid registration documents should be granted freedom of movement and not arrested unless subjected to judicial process; Somalis without a registration document should be sent to the closest registration centre in the Governorate; non-Somalis with valid refugee documents should have...

 In a meeting between UNHCR, UNICEF, IOM and the Secretary-General of the Higher Council for Motherhood and Childhood to discuss the treatment and referral of migrant children deemed not of concern to UNHCR, HCMC agreed that their situation should be assessed before Voluntary Return and committed to lobby for their cause. Further, it was agreed to propose an amendment to the National Child...

In April the UN’s IRIN News reported that Puntland authorities and IOM began voluntary repatriation of hundreds of Ethiopian migrants from Puntland in April. The program provides transport and reintegration support.

In April officials announced the arrest of over 100 Ethiopians in Somalia’s Puntland, a hub for mixed migrants from Somalia and Ethiopia on their way to cross the Gulf of Aden to Yemen. Local sources confirm this group was deported before their protection needs could be assessed and confirmed the arrest of a second group days later as they prepared to cross to Yemen.

Recruitment and use of children as soldiers by armed groups in Somalia is rising. UNICEF issued a statement in April that said schools are being used as recruitment centres and that child soldiers are often beaten or executed when captured. Over 80 separated children were registered by the Danish Refugee Council as new arrivals to Yemen in April, including Somali boys fleeing forced recruitment.

In April the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) and UNHCR carried out a 2 day workshop on International Refugee Law and Protection for NGOs working with refugees as well as police. The Workshop was held in Kharaz Refugee Camp close to Aden, Yemen.

On April 19th a boat carrying 94 mixed migrants left Shimbirale in Puntland to cross the Gulf of Aden, arriving 3 days later to Yemen’s Coast. As passengers disembarked, seven Ethiopians became separated from the others, who made it safely to the coast. The Society of Humanitarian Solidarity's Coastal Patrols later found the lost Ethiopians, extremely dehydrated. An ambulance took them to...

In Sana'a, Yemen in April, IOM implemented a workshop for the Government of Yemen, UN agencies and INGOs on Protection and Provision of Direct assistance to Trafficked Persons and Exploited Migrants. This workshop served as a key first step to kick starting an identification and referral system for these groups in Yemen.

In April the International Organisation for Migration conducted a training on pandemic preparedness and response for migrants and host communities in Aden, Yemen. 20 community leaders, the Ministry of Health, NGO workers and the WHO participated.

Heavy fighting in Somalia’s capital in April led to the displacement of over 11,000 people from their homes in Mogadishu in April according to UNHCR. The bulk of registered new arrivals to Yemen in April come from Mogadishu and surrounding areas.