Tanzania will, on Wednesday and Thursday, inaugurate new
immigration and police premises in Kilwa Masoko, Lindi region, and
Kilambo, Mtwara region, constructed by IOM as part of a migration
management project funded by the Government of Japan.

The USD 2.4 million Japanese-funded project was established to
help vulnerable, stranded irregular migrants, mainly from the Horn
of Africa transiting Tanzania in search of work in South
Africa.

A 2009 IOM study "In Pursuit of the Southern Dream"
suggested that some 17,000-20,000 mainly young men from Somalia and
Ethiopia are smuggled through Tanzania en route to South Africa
every year.

According to Tanzania's Immigration Department, more than 1,700
irregular Ethiopian and Somali migrants have been intercepted on
Tanzanian soil since the beginning of 2011.

The Tanzanian regions most affected by the flows of migrants are
those in the south – Mbeya, Mtwara, Lindi, and Tanga on the
coast.

In each location the Japanese-funded project has allowed IOM, in
close collaboration with Tanzanian police and immigration
counterparts, to construct and extend premises where the migrants
can be housed and screened.

It has also provided IT equipment to allow Tanzanian immigration
officers to capture biographic and biometric data in order to
create a record of all migrants passing through land border posts.
The project has also donated 11 cars and three boats.

IOM has also helped to develop Memoranda of Understanding
between the police, the immigration department and five shelters in
three regions to ensure that child migrants can now be housed in
shelters instead of being detained with other intercepted irregular
migrants.

For intercepted migrants, the project also offers the option of
voluntary return to their country of origin. Since mid-2009 it has
allowed IOM to help 2,327 Ethiopians to voluntarily return home
from Tanzania and receive reintegration assistance on arrival.

For more information please contact:

IOM Tanzania

Monika Peruffo

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

or

Damien Thuriaux

Tel: +255.22.260.2913

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