Nairobi, Kenya – The Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs (France) have provided a total of EUR 1 million to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to assist thousands of migrants in vulnerable situations and their host communities along the ‘Eastern Route,’ which runs from the Horn of Africa to Yemen and the Arabian Peninsula. 

The response falls under the Regional Migrant Response Plan for the Horn of Africa and Yemen 2023, consisting of 47 humanitarian and development organizations coordinated by IOM.
  
Funding to assist migrants and host communities along this route has drastically reduced this year, while the needs of migrants and their host populations continue to increase due to climatic shocks, conflicts, and economic crises. These challenging circumstances force thousands of people each year to go on perilous journeys out of the Horn of Africa in search of better opportunities, most of them heading toward the Gulf countries. For those that return to their countries of origin, the absence of reintegration support means that returnees will be returning to the same, if not worse, conditions that drove their migration in the first place. The lack of support to ease them into resuming their normal lives will result in heightened vulnerability and likely trigger irregular re-migration.  

“IOM appreciates the support from the Government of France at this time when we are facing a funding crunch with huge implications on the lives of migrants and host communities in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia, and Yemen. It is important that the support is continued given these pressing needs and at a time when we are recording increasing numbers of women, girls and unaccompanied minors traveling along the Eastern Route,” said Mohammed Abdiker, IOM Regional Director for East and Horn of Africa.
 
With sufficient funding, the MRP can address the unmet needs, which include direct humanitarian and development initiatives, including life-saving assistance and protection interventions, voluntary returns from transit countries along the Eastern Route, post-arrival and reception support, and reintegration support at individual, community, and structural level as well as strengthening the capacities of the governments to respond the situations of the migrants and host communities.

This generous funding will enable IOM’s contribution to the Regional Migrant Response Plan (MRP) for the Horn of Africa and Yemen. The host communities and migrants in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia, and Yemen benefit as this funding fills crucial immediate funding gaps at a time when MRP services face imminent discontinuation without more support.

IOM coordinates the MRP framework, a response mechanism that brings humanitarian and development partners together to respond to and address the needs of migrants and host communities along the Eastern migration corridor. 
 
For more information, please contact IOM Communications Officer (Regional Migrant Response Plan for the Horn of Africa and Yemen) Eva Sibanda on esibanda@iom.int Phone: +254795424202