Guinea - It was 02:23 on Friday, 14 July when the special flight chartered by IOM Libya touched down on the tarmac at Conakry-Gbessia International Airport. On board were 136 Guinean migrants, including seven unaccompanied children, three women and one infant.

The charter flight had left from Mitiga Airport in Tripoli on Thursday. In what is now quite a regular procedure, IOM, the UN Migration Agency, conducted pre-departure interviews and medical examinations and facilitated the acquisition of travel documents and issuance of exit visas for all passengers. The migrants also received additional assistance in the form of kits, including clothing and footwear.

On hand to welcome them at the airport were the different teams comprising government and non-government officials: SENAH (National Service of Humanitarian Affairs), representatives of the Ministry of Guineans Abroad and the Ministry of Social Actions, IOM, the EU delegation in Guinea and the Guinean Red Cross. Among the returnees was a medical case who was directly transported to hospital for medical follow-up.

These migrants, who opted for a humanitarian voluntary return to Guinea, are among the many Guineans living in irregular situations in Libya, often in very difficult conditions. Some of them were held in the Tajoura, Alshok and Alsika detention centers.

Upon arrival in Conakry, the migrants were provided by IOM Guinea with on-the-spot assistance, which included the provision of food as well as non-food items; after which a registration process of all returnees began.

The data gleaned from these questionnaires will enable IOM to better understand the profile of the returnees, to learn more about the reasons for their departure, their migratory path and living conditions in Libya. IOM believes that this information will help to properly align activities relating to their reintegration into the returning migrants’ various communities.

After this profiling step, IOM gave each migrant the equivalent of EUR 50 to cover their transportation to their final destinations.

Within the next three months, and as part of the IOM/European Union Trust Fund (EUTF) initiative through the program "Strengthening Governance of Migration and Supporting the Sustainable Reintegration of Migrants in the Republic of Guinea", IOM will be assessing the returnees` situations on a  case by case basis in order to help them find alternatives to ensure their sustainable reintegration in Guinea.

At the same time, IOM hopes to provide continuous psychosocial support to vulnerable migrants and, where necessary, any additional support to address their immediate needs.

Returning migrants residing in Conakry were able to return directly to their homes, while others from different parts of Guinea were accommodated for one night by SENAH at the Matam Transit Centre, from where they will proceed to their final destinations.

Among the returnees was 19-year-old Amadou* who worked as a mechanic in a garage in Libya. After having repaired a customer’s car, the latter refused to settle the bills and instead gave him a serious blow on the face, which removed his incisors, before shooting him on the back with a pistol. He gives thanks to one of his friends who immediately took him to the hospital. IOM Libya later transfered him to a private clinic for care.

Saliou* and Mohamed*, two friends from same neighbourhood are 13 and 14 years old respectively. They admitted having stolen the motorbikes of an uncle in order to finance their trip up to Libya, passing through Mali and Algeria. After arriving in Libya, they were captured by a gang before being locked up. Saliou explained, however, they were lucky as only the older prisoners were beaten. Saliou’s and Mohamed’s parents were at the airport to welcome them home.

As for Fatma*, she returned with her husband who had been working in Libya. She explained that she was forced to leave Libya due to financial difficulties stemming from the political instability the country has been facing these past years. Since the couple had no means to finance their trip back home, they sought help from IOM.

This year through 5 July, IOM Libya has assisted 5,172 stranded migrants (18 per cent of whom are women) return to their countries of origin. Three-quarters of the 5,172 migrants were held in detention centres, of whom, 1,838 were eligible for reintegration assistance.

Thursday’s flight was the fifth chartered by IOM in 2017 to facilitate the return of Guinean migrants from Libya, making a total of 595 Guinea migrants who have been supported by IOM Guinea, in addition to other voluntary returns of Guinean nationals coming from Benin, Cameroon, Egypt, Morocco and Niger, who also were stranded on the migratory trail.

The project, Strengthening the Governance of Migration and Supporting the Reintegration of Migrants in the Republic of Guinea, is a joint initiative between IOM and the European Union Trust Fund. Launched in April 2017, it will be implemented over a period of three years and will cover six administrative regions of Guinea: Conakry, Boké, Mamou, Labé, Kankan and N'zérékoré.

As part of this project, IOM Guinea will assist returning migrants (depending on their profiles and needs) to create small businesses, to involve them in a collective and/or community entrepreneurial initiative or to enroll them in professional training programmes.

*The names of migrants have been changed to protect their privacy.

For more information, please contact Lucas Chandellier, IOM Guinea: Tel. +: 224 628 33 86 53, Email: lchandellier@iom.int