An EU-funded information campaign aimed at raising awareness of the
dangers of irregular migration in order the prevent the many
tragedies befalling irregular migrants is today being extended to
the southern Casamance region.

The campaign, which kicks off in the department of
Vélingara, uses national and regional radio and television
to get awareness messages out to an estimated 100,000 persons
living in Casamance and in neighbouring Gambia and Guinea
Bissau.  

As part of the campaign, support will be provided to on-going
awareness activities carried in northern Casamance by a local NGO,
the Association Internationale pour Médina-Marty (AIMM).

A road-show featuring "Beyond the Dreams", a documentary on the
life of young Senegalese who live as undocumented migrants in
Europe, will travel next week to towns and villages affected by
high rates of emigration in order to raise awareness of some the
realities of daily life as undocumented migrants in
Europe.  

The month-long campaign, which also seeks to inform potential
migrants of the legal methods of migration, falls within a
programme of inter-regional dialogue between the European Union,
North and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Casamance has experienced over the past years a marked increase
in the number of people embarking on rickety boats for a perilous
1,000-mile sea journey towards the Canaries, with many perishing at
sea.

For further information, please contact:

Séverine Cirlande

IOM Dakar

Tel: +221 33 869 62 38

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

or

Ibrahima Cissé

from the Association Internationale pour Médina-Marty

Tel: +221 76 668 57 26