Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone grapples with complex migration dynamics; it is a source, transit, and destination point for migrants.

Historically, the country played a key role in the transatlantic slave trade. Today, internal migration is more prevalent, characterized by rural to urban migration due to inequality and a search for better economic opportunities. The Western Region and its capital, Freetown, are the most preferred destinations due to their high level of urbanization.

Emigration trends in Sierra Leone are influenced by the potential for better economic opportunities, family reunification, and education. The United Kingdom, United States, Guinea, Liberia, Senegal, and Nigeria are some of the top destination countries for Sierra Leonean emigrants. Most immigrants in Sierra Leone are of West African descent. Their movements are guided by regional cooperative frameworks, such as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Manu River Union (MRU). A significant percentage of immigrants is also comprised of those from the United Kingdom, United States, India, and Lebanon, most of whom live in the Freetown capital area.

Sierra Leone’s protracted civil war, which ended in 2002, also contributed to the region’s complex migration dynamics. Following the conflict, locals were forced to neighboring states as refugees while Sierra Leone itself became a host to refugees from Liberia, Cote d’Ivoire, and Guinea.

IOM Sierra Leone operates with a focus on executing country-specific programs aligned with strategic regional priorities, which are overseen by the IOM West & Central Africa Regional Office in Dakar, Senegal. Since signing a cooperation agreement with the Government of the Republic of Sierra Leone in April 2001, IOM has actively engaged in diverse migration management and governance efforts in the country. The Organization concentrates on various projects aimed at promoting sustainable development, with a broader objective of fostering safe, orderly, and well-managed migration in Sierra Leone. IOM Sierra Leone has been engaged in all aspects of migration development including but not limited to:

Migration Management

1. Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration (AVRR):

Every year, IOM provides tailored AVRR assistance to migrants returning home voluntarily under diverse circumstances. Beneficiaries may include stranded migrants in host or transit countries, irregular and regular migrants, asylum seekers who decide not to pursue their claims or are found not to need international protection, as well as migrants in vulnerable situations, such as victims of human trafficking, unaccompanied and separated children, elderly migrants or those with health-related needs.

In Sierra Leone, IOM offers AVRR services to stranded nationals, so that they may return to their communities of origin. These services include onward transportation, food or medical support, non-food items (NFIs), accommodation, referrals for protection services, education or childcare support, trainings, as well as mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS).

Since 2017, IOM has assisted in the voluntary returns of over 10,000 Sierra Leonean migrants stranded on migration routes. In December 2022, November 2023, and March 2024, three high-level ambassadorial/ministerial delegations joined IOM in the reception of returning migrants to Sierra Leone from Niger. This was a strong step towards increasing broader government involvement in the post-arrival process.

2. Counter-Trafficking

IOM is a global leader in counter-trafficking, drawing on a quarter century of experience and having directly assisted over 100,000 people. The Organization works closely with governments, the broader United Nations, international and non-governmental organizations, the private sector and human rights institutions, as well as other peace and development actors across humanitarian and development settings to achieve the common goal of ending human trafficking.

IOM Sierra Leone regularly collaborates with the country’s Anti-Trafficking Secretariat to combat the trafficking of human beings and raise awareness of this crime throughout the country. Together, these task forces launched the National Action Plan 2024-2028 for counter-trafficking. They also worked together frequently to increase victims’ and potential victims’ access to information, protection, and justice mechanisms; contribute to collecting data and testimonies to assess the scope of human trafficking; and train local volunteers in identifying, referring, and providing immediate assistance to victims of trafficking. Since 2017, IOM has assisted over 500 Sierra Leonean victims of trafficking.

3. Migration Governance

IOM supports the Sierra Leonean government to improve its border and migration governance through the development of policies, technical and operational systems, as well as administrative and capacity building.

Sierra Leone is a champion country of the Global Compact for Migration (GCM), the first inter-governmentally negotiated agreement – prepared under the auspices of the United Nations – covering all dimensions of international migration in a comprehensive manner. As the chair of the UN Network on Migration, IOM Sierra Leone is continuing to offer technical support to implement the 23 objectives of the GCM. This involves supporting the GCM work plan of the Government, conducting a specialized session on labour migration governance, and providing support to the government of Sierra Leone in integrating migration into the country's voluntary National Review of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

4. Immigration and Border Governance (IBG)

IOM’s IBG division partners with Member States to enhance the migration policies, legal frameworks, technical and administrative structures, and human resources required to effectively address the challenges and harness the opportunities of migration and cross-border mobility. IBG interventions are designed in partnership with governments and other relevant stakeholders, advancing IOM’s commitment to facilitate safe, orderly, and regular migration alongside predictable human mobility, through three distinct but complementary portfolios: Border and Identity Solutions, Immigration and Visas, and Legal Identity.

In Sierra Leone, IOM supports the Government of Sierra Leone to improve its border governance through the development of migration policies and strategies and the installation of vital border governance equipment at official crossing points. In 2022, with support from IOM, the Government of Sierra Leone launched its National Migration Policy, which contains a comprehensive framework to improve and enforce administrative and legislative procedures towards migration’s management in Sierra Leone. IOM also supported the deployment of the Migration Information and Data Analysis System (MIDAS), a user friendly and customizable Border Management Information System (BMIS) at a major crossing point with Liberia. This system allows trained border personnel to collect, store and analyze the information of travelers entering and exiting Sierra Leone in real time, creating a sound statistical basis for future migration policy planning.

5. Capacity Building

IOM supports capacity of the Government of Sierra Leone to manage all aspects of migration. This involves investing in the capacity growth of local authorities, government agencies, and community leaders to manage migration-related challenges effectively. IOM intervention involves implementation, training programs, projects, and supporting
processes centered on areas such as state institutions, legal advice on migration policy, data collection and research on migration issues, as well as fostering national and regional partnerships.

To establish a closer alignment amongst IOM and its local partners in matters of common interest in Sierra Leone, the Organization has signed Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with Government Ministries (Youth Affairs, Internal Affairs, and Social Welfare); other Government Agencies (the Sierra Leone Immigration Department, National Youth Commission, National Commission for Social Action, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency); local service providers and organizations (the Aberdeen Women’s Center, Action Against Hunger, Life by Design, Craving for Development); and the private sector (Orange Money).

Crisis Response & Climate Change

Human mobility is inextricably related to instability and fragility. Crises often occur in contexts of chronic underdevelopment, with the impacts of climate change exacerbating the risk of conflict, social unrest and forced movements. IOM’s comprehensive, inclusive and people-centered responses, guided by the institutional Migration Crisis Operational Framework (MCOF), are grounded in sound analysis and built on strong partnerships, focused on saving lives and protecting those on the move, while investing in reducing needs, vulnerabilities and risks and building resilient and peaceful societies.

In Sierra Leone, IOM plays a key role in emergency response and preparedness, especially concerning displacement caused by disasters due to natural hazards exacerbated by climate change. Realizing the inextricable ties between human mobility and climate change, IOM Sierra Leone has officially added Migration, Environment, and Climate Change (MECC) to our programming portfolio. MECC efforts include providing immediate assistance, shelter, and non-food items support to affected populations, which save lives and mitigate the broader impacts of sudden changes in migration patterns throughout the country. In 2022, IOM and the Government of Sierra Leone held round table discussions on disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation, and human mobility. IOM then offered support to the national Environment Protection Agency to conduct a scientific study on addressing coastal communities’ vulnerabilities to climate change in the two island communities of Plantain and Yelibuya. 

Sierra Leone is an official signatory to the Kampala Declaration on Migration, Environment, and Climate Change (KDMECC), which acknowledges that “we can no longer talk about climate change without talking about human mobility.”

Migration Health

Within its Migration Health Division (MHD), IOM delivers and promotes comprehensive, preventive and curative health programmes that are beneficial, accessible, and equitable for migrants and mobile populations. Bridging the needs of both migrants and IOM member states, MHD, in close collaboration with partners, contributes towards the physical, mental and social well-being of migrants, enabling them and host communities to achieve social and economic development. 

In Sierra Leone, IOM assists the government in addressing the health-related aspects of migration as well as global pandemics by providing health services to migrants and promoting community health awareness. Activities include local healthcare access, disease prevention, and the broader strengthening of health systems. 

In the framework of the UK Tuberculosis (TB) Detection programme, IOM conducted TB screening between January and August 2024 for over 800 people travelling to the UK for extended time periods. Additionally, under our migration health screening program, IOM works closely with partner visa offices and DNA laboratories in Australia, Canada, and the UK to implement DNA sample collection services. IOM supports the process by guaranteeing the security, confidentiality, and quality of the samples and ensuring that the specimens are properly delivered to the appropriate reference laboratory. Between January 2024 and August 2024, IOM collected DNA samples for over 40 applicants who intend to join their families in these countries. These efforts were completed in consultation alongside a virtual witnessing team with the Visa Documentation Verification in Pretoria, South Africa and the requesting laboratories.

International Cooperation and Partnership

Partnerships provide an important platform for advancing cooperation on migration. IOM plays a key role in supporting partnerships and the means to collaborate at national, regional, and global levels for better and more effective migration management. The Organization promotes informal dialogues between States and cooperation among agencies, and involves various stakeholders, including civil society and migrants, as both subjects and agents of migration. In helping to develop and strengthen partnerships on migration, IOM provides substantive, expert and organizational assistance to governments and other institutions. 

In Sierra Leone, IOM engages in partnership to strengthen its approach to migration challenges and better harness the potential of the Sierra Leonean diaspora. Relevant initiatives include skills development, job placement services, and fostering connections between the diaspora and local development projects.

Career Opportunities

Being a member of the IOM team requires the highest standards of efficiency, competence and integrity. As an international organization with a global mandate, IOM also aims to maintain an equitable geographical balance among its staff. As such, its recruitment efforts target, but are not necessarily limited to, nationals of its Member States. IOM is an equal opportunity employer and seeks committed professionals with a wide variety of skills in the field of migration. IOM staff work in multi-cultural environments, in which diversity and cultural sensitivity are valued.

 

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Contact information

IOM Sierra Leone 
18A New Signal Hill Road 
Freetown, Sierra Leone 

Email: iomfreetown@iom.int

Telephone: +232 22 234 244

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