Inhabitants of Cote d'Ivoire's main city Abidjan are rapidly using
any means they can to flee the growing violence.

IOM staff in Abidjan say people are leaving on public buses,
cars and taxis to reach home villages as fighting spreads across
the city.

Among those leaving are growing numbers of migrants.

An IOM convoy which evacuated 453 Mauritanian migrants by bus
last week reached the Malian capital, Bamako, at the weekend
despite many roadblocks and insecurity along the route.

A second convoy of seven buses carrying nearly 470 Mauritanians,
which was due to depart on 20 March, will either leave today or
tomorrow, 23rd March.

IOM has registered another 402 Mauritanians camped out in the
grounds or in the vicinity of the Mauritanian Embassy in Abidjan
who wish to return home. An estimated additional 250 may also need
evacuation assistance.

The Mauritanian Embassy has already evacuated 2,200 Mauritanians
by bus in the past few weeks.

IOM has also been made aware by the Malian ambassador to Abidjan
of about 20,000 of his nationals requiring evacuation assistance.
Among them is a group of 100 women and children who arrived at the
embassy over the weekend urgently asking to be helped to return
home.

In addition, 800 Burkinabés have been referred to IOM by
the Burkinabé Council for Peace in Cote d'Ivoire also for
help to return home to Burkina Faso. The group is currently staying
among host families in a village an hour from Abidjan after their
homes and village were looted.

In January, IOM had been formally requested by Burkina Faso,
Mali and Liberia to assist their nationals to return to their
respective home countries if the situation escalated. IOM is also
working with national disaster agencies in all five surrounding
countries including Guinea and Ghana to assist in the reception and
reintegration of returning nationals from Cote d'Ivoire.

In addition to evacuation assistance, returning migrants need
reception and reintegration help upon arrival, having lost their
livelihood and much of their property.

IOM estimates that at least 100,000 stranded migrants will need
to be assisted home to neighbouring countries.

In January, IOM appealed for an initial USD 3.5 million to carry
out a range of operations including assisting the internally
displaced and stranded migrants in Cote d'Ivoire, helping return
Liberian nationals and other third country nationals to return home
and to track and assess the needs of mobile populations in the
country.

To date, the Organization has received USD 1.06 million from the
US government and the UN's Central Emergency Response Fund. With
the situation worsening in the country and requests for evacuations
of migrants increasing, funds are desperately needed to help those
fleeing violence.

For further information, please contact:

Jemini Pandya

IOM Geneva

Tel: +41 22 717 9486

       +41 79 217 3374

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