Abidjan — IOM, the UN Migration Agency, has published the first profiling report on returning Ivorian migrants with the aim to establish a demographic, social and economic profile of the Ivorians who embark on the central Mediterranean route towards Europe.

This inventory — the most comprehensive to date — takes into account the age, gender, region of origin and socio-economic background of the migrants, as well as the drivers and arrangements for the departure, the routes followed, the return and prospects for reintegration.

Throughout 2017, IOM collected the testimonies of more than 1,000 Ivorian migrants upon their return to Côte d’Ivoire.

"This analysis will help IOM to better coordinate and target the protection and reintegration activities for returned migrants in Côte d'Ivoire,” explained IOM Côte d'Ivoire Chief of Mission Marina Schramm, on the occasion of report’s publication. “Also, a regular update of the analytical elements will allow for a better understanding of the migratory phenomenon in the country and to find the adequate answers, in terms of awareness raising of the risks of irregular migration and prevention."

According to the study, the "typical” Ivorian is a man (80 per cent), single (75 per cent), young (between 18 and 30 years old), literate (70 per cent) and held a paid job before leaving (over 70 per cent).

The report also reveals that Ivorian migrants have taken a wide variety of migration routes. However, there is a clear tendency for women to first travel by air (70 per cent), particularly on the way to Tunisia and Morocco.
Of the respondents, 80 per cent were assisted in their return from Libya.

In 2017, IOM's Côte d’Ivoiremission assisted more than 1,800 individuals to return voluntarily, most of whom were hosted and assisted under the EU-IOM Joint Initiative for Migrant Protection and Reintegration, funded by the European Union and implemented by IOM.

Read the report in French, here

For more information please contact Marina Schramm, IOM Côte d’Ivoire, Tel: +225 22 52 82 00, Email: mschramm@iom.int