In collaboration with partners, IOM has begun a series of
activities in Somalia’s Puntland to help reduce the annual
loss of lives in the Gulf of Aden as thousands of Ethiopian and
Somali migrants and asylum seekers attempt to cross from
Somalia’s Puntland to Yemen using smuggling networks, and to
provide better protection for them along their journey.

It is estimated that more than 1,221 people have died so far
this year trying to make the journey from the Puntland town of
Bossasso to Yemen with the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) reporting that 26,913 Ethiopians and Somalis in
274 boats managed to survive the crossing.

IOM staff will provide information to migrants and asylum
seekers of the dangers of their journey along the smuggling routes
to Bossasso, a major human smuggling hotspot, while advocating for
their rights among local authorities, communities and elders in
these areas. The core team will be located in Bossasso and will
conduct outreach missions to Garowe in Puntland, the main transit
point for Somalis coming from Mogadishu, and to Burao in
Somaliland, the main transit point from Ethiopia.

The placement of staff along the smuggling routes will also
enable IOM to identify the most vulnerable migrants such as
unaccompanied minors, victims of trafficking and asylum seekers and
to provide them with appropriate assistance before they reach
Bossasso. In the case of asylum seekers, IOM will also refer them
to UNHCR.

In addition, the deployment will allow IOM staff to gather data
on migration trends and information to better profile the irregular
migrants who make the journey. This will ultimately facilitate an
effective response from various humanitarian actors currently
involved on the issue, including UNHCR, the United Nations Office
for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the Danish
Refugee Council.

With 40 per cent of those managing to reach Yemen being
Ethiopians, IOM and partners will also carry out information
campaigns in Ethiopia, particularly in rural communities from which
most of the Ethiopian migrants originate and advocate for the
rights of migrants in Yemen. Awareness raising efforts in Ethiopia
will kick off in Addis Ababa on International Migrants Day on
December 18 with a showing of French documentary film-maker Daniel
Grandclement’s film, The Martyrs of the Gulf of Aden.

For further information, please contact:

William Lorenz

Mobile: +254 722 709362

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