The evacuation by IOM of nearly 1,000 Mauritanian migrants from
Cote d'Ivoire to Mauritania has begun despite an increase in
fighting in Abidjan.

The evacuation by bus had been scheduled to take place on 16
March. However, fighting in the vicinity of the Mauritanian Embassy
in the district of Cocody, Deux Plateaux, where hundreds of
Mauritanian migrants have been seeking shelter had delayed the
departure of the convoy.

The Mauritanian Embassy had already evacuated 2,200 of its
nationals by bus but still has several hundreds of its nationals
remained camped out in the embassy compound and on surrounding
streets.

A first convoy of seven buses carrying 490 Mauritanians left
finally on Friday morning with a second convoy for another 490
migrants planned for this weekend if conditions permit.

With violence in Cote d'Ivoire having escalated in the past few
weeks, leading to an estimated 200,000 to 300,000 people being
displaced in Abidjan alone, increasing numbers of migrants and
Ivorians are fleeing the country.

An estimated 40,000 Mauritanians are living and working in Cote
d'Ivoire, 10,000 of whom are in Abidjan, according to the
Mauritanian Embassy in Abidjan.

The vast majority of them either own or work in small business
and are men without accompanying families. Mauritanian migrants say
they feel particularly threatened and targeted and as a result,
want to return home. Some have had their shops looted while many
have witnessed much violence.

IOM, which is organizing the transport and logistics of the
evacuation, will have staff in Mali and in Mauritania to support
the convoy en route.

The World Health Organization (WHO) and World Food Programme
(WFP) are also supporting the evacuation by providing fitness to
travel checks before departure, yellow fever vaccinations and high
energy biscuits for the migrants for the journey.

For further information, please contact:

Jemini Pandya

Tel: +41 22 717 9486

       +41 79 217 3374

E-mail: "mailto:jpandya@iom.int">jpandya@iom.int