El Salvador – The IOM Mission in El Salvador this week provided 10,350 hygiene kits to the General Directorate of Migration (DGME.) They will be distributed to Salvadorian migrants returning to their country.

The kits, part of IOM’s project Reintegration for Returned Migrants and Victims of Human Trafficking, will be distributed upon arrival to migrants returned by air from the United States and by land from Mexico.

According to official figures provided by DGME, each year some 29,000 Salvadorian migrants are returned to their country.  Between 2010-2012, a total of 55,507 persons were returned by air from the United States, and an additional 31,354 were returned by land from Mexico.

“In order to fulfil the most basic needs of the returning migrants, IOM decided to make three sets of kits, each stocked with items for men, women and children.  This assistance is vital for migrants returning empty-handed and overwhelmed by the prospect of returning to their communities of origin and picking up the pieces of their lives,” explains Jorge Sagastume, IOM Project Coordinator.

IOM also delivered shoes, T-shirts, under garments for adults and children and disposable diapers to DGME for distribution to migrants arriving by in air in the capital San Salvador and at land borders.   The hygiene kits and clothing assistance will also be distributed to victims of human trafficking at nine land borders.

The project also provided support to the authorities for the rehabilitation of reception centers welcoming the returnees to their home country, as well as training and financial support for returnees wishing to start micro enterprises.

Working with the Salvadorian Association for Financial Education (ASEFIN), IOM is helping returnees and victims of trafficking to develop business plans.  So far IOM has assisted 20 persons to draft business plans, and provided advice and financial support for the purchase of equipment and other materials needed to start businesses. 

The returnees face numerous challenges once back in the country, including difficulties in getting employment, health care, housing, food, and education; the stigma of being a returned migrant; emotional and psychological problems, such as anxiety, depression and aggressive behavior; and the risk of the disintegration of their families after long periods of absence.

Faced with these dismal realities and little to no prospect of securing a job, the returnees are at high risk for recruitment by gangs and other criminal networks.

An estimated three million Salvadorians live outside their country; mainly in the United States, Canada, Spain and Italy.

This IOM project is financed by the Government of Canada through its Stabilization and Reconstruction Task Force (START).

For more information please contact

Adriana Granados
IOM El Salvador
Tel: +503.2521.0535
Email: pressiomsansalvador@oim.int