Facts and Figures

Latest News

• Japan Funds IOM Water Treatment Pilot for Internally Displaced in Somalia
• Migration Mapping Service between Somalia and Dadaab in Kenya Highlights Need for Better Protection of Drought and Famine Victims
• IOM supports thousands of IDPs and Ethiopian migrants in the Puntland State of Somalia
• IOM Steps up Transport and Medical Assistance for Fleeing Somalis
• Funds Urgently Needed as IOM Begins Relocating Somali Drought Victims from Dadaab Camp to New Site

Overview

Every year, tens of thousands of migrants and refugees make the hazardous journey from their place of origin in South-Central Somalia and Ethiopia through the northeastern region of Somalia, Puntland, and onwards across the Gulf of Aden. Such movements are known as "mixed migration flows", as there are various motivations among the migrants making the journey, including flight from persecution and human rights violations, as well as the desire to access better economic opportunities. Many die during the journey, while others are subjected to abuse and injury at the hands of unscrupulous smugglers.

Despite the inherent dangers, the number of persons attempting the crossing from Puntland to Yemen has increased significantly. In addition, Somalia's 3,300-km coastline is one of the longest in Africa and considered as one of the world's most dangerous stretches of water because of piracy. Piracy and smuggling in Somalia are a lucrative, multifaceted business, centered on drugs, weapons, and other contraband goods, as well as human smuggling across the Gulf of Aden or further south.

Ongoing fighting between the Transition Federal Government (TFG) forces and armed militia groups in Mogadishu and surrounding areas since May 2009 continues to result in increasing levels of population displacement and hindered humanitarian access to these affected populations. Through its different projects in Somaliland and Puntland, IOM aims to decrease the pressure created by these movements by raising awareness among potential migrants; improving livelihood opportunities in the areas of origin and transit; enhancing the government's border management capacities; and further investigating the occurrence of human trafficking in the region.

The national response to Somalia's HIV epidemic is largely targeted towards low-prevalence "vulnerable" populations instead of key higher-risk groups. The AIDS Commission realizes that effective prevention services are needed to reach key high-risk populations in order to avoid a significant increase in new infections. Irregular migrants face special health needs given their mobile and hard-to-reach nature; exclusion to services can also affect host populations.

Movement, Emergency and Post-crisis Migration Management

Mixed Migration
The mixed migration programme seeks to minimize the negative impacts associated with migration through advocacy, information dissemination and coordination of response. In addition, the programme addresses the burden placed on host communities as well as root causes driving people to leave their homelands, including food insecurity. This can be achieved by supporting basic infrastructure development and improving livelihood opportunities: this programme is designed (in line with the IASC's Protection Strategy for Somalia for 2010) to include livelihood activities that will reduce the economic pressure on source communities. If families can earn their basic living, they may be willing to avoid the risks associated with economic migration to the Gulf States.

The combined mixed migration activities fall within IOM's mission to advance understanding of migration issues and uphold the human dignity and well-being of migrants. Awareness, advocacy, outreach and information campaigns, and services for migrants and victims of trafficking are provided within IOM's strategic foci. These are to enhance respect for the human rights of migrants in accordance with international law and to be a primary reference point for migration information, research, best practices, data collection and sharing. In addition, IOM in Somalia participates in coordinated responses to provide migration services in other emergency or post-crisis situations as relates to the needs of migrant individuals and their protection.

Mixed migration activities (advocacy, outreach and awareness raising, addressing human trafficking, and provision of livelihood support) cover several areas along the mixed migration route from South Central Somalia and Ethiopia to Yemen including Somaliland and Puntland regions of Somalia, Ethiopia and Djibouti.

Main Projects

• Improving Protection of Migrants and Other Vulnerable Groups Travelling Through Somaliland and Puntland to Yemen
• Support to Individuals, State and Non-State Actors to Manage Migration and Refugee Flows Across the Somalia/Yemen Gap

Other Projects

• Infrastructure improvement and creating livelihood opportunities to reduce piracy among coastal communities in Somalia
• Somalia Transitional Support Programme through IOM technical assistance in conflict mitigation initiatives (USAID project)

Migration Health

Research for improved targeting and implementation of national health and HIV programming Somalia's HIV epidemic is concentrated in key population groups engaging in risk behaviour; many of these are mobile populations. To date, these populations are nevertheless largely overlooked in the national response. In close collaboration with the AIDS Commission and UN partners, IOM has completed two seminal studies that identified the vulnerabilities of most-at-risk populations (MARPs). The data and technical expertise provided by IOM was central to the revision of the national strategic framework to better target the response to key population groups. In 2009, IOM also completed HIV studies among pastoralists and migrant women vulnerable to sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). From this research, IOM identified the programmatic gaps and offered recommendations for future programming. This data also directly contributed to revision of the national HIV/AIDS strategy. Further research is required, including integrated biological and behavioural surveillance among priority and bridge populations, including female sex workers, port workers, truckers, and others. Evaluation, formative, and operational research are also underway and/or planned.

Publications

• Kriitmaa K., et al. "HIV Prevalence and characteristics of sex work among female sex workers in
  Hargeisa, Somaliland, Somalia." AIDS 2010, 24 (suppl 2):S61-S67

Abstract and Poster Presentations

• Elmi, H., et al. "Sexual and Gender-based Violence (SGBV) and HIV Assessment among Vulnerable and
  Displaced Women in Non-Camp Settings in Somaliland." Poster presentation TUPE0414.
  International AIDS Conference XVIII, Vienna. July 2010
• Testa, A., et al. "Out of Sight, Not Out of Reach: Lessons Learned Researching Somali
  Transactional Sex Workers and Their Clients." Poster presentation WEPE0797.
  International AIDS Conference XVII, Mexico City. August 2008.
• Testa, A., et al. "The First Somalia HIV Hot-spot Mapping of Transactional Sex Workers & Clients."
  Poster presentation TUPE0585. International AIDS Conference XVII, Mexico City. August 2008.

Reports

• Sexual and Gender-based Violence (SGBV) and HIV Assessment among Vulnerable and Displaced Women in
  Somaliland in Non-Camp Settings: Final report, April 2010. IOM Nairobi, 2010.
• HIV & Syphilis Integrated Biological and Behavioural Surveillance (IBBS) Survey among
  Female Sex Workers in Hargeisa, Somaliland, 2008. IOM Nairobi, 2010.
• Somali HIV Hot-Spot Mapping: Exploring HIV Vulnerability among Populations at Increased Risk, 2007.
  IOM Nairobi, 2010.
• Somali HIV & Mobility Research and HIV Hot-Spot Mapping Toolkit for Hard-to-Reach Populations, 2008-2010:
  Joint UN Team on HIV/AIDS in Somalia. CD ROM. IOM Nairobi, 2010.

HIV/AIDS Somalia Programme
In line with the June 2010 Dubai Regional Consensus Statement on Achieving Universal Access in Middle-East and North African countries, IOM's HIV programme in Somalia focuses on identified priority populations (including female sex workers) and bridge populations (largely mobile men or clients of sex workers). IOM's goal is to contribute substantially to reduced HIV infections through comprehensive prevention (including addressing social determinants of HIV risk-behaviour, working towards universal knowledge of serostatus through HIV counselling and testing, and ensuring access to treatment that includes antiretroviral therapy).

Current activities are based upon groundbreaking research, but are limited to community stigma reduction, awareness raising, capacity building of implementing partners, supporting improved coordination, and offering technical support towards national strategies / programmes through the UN Joint Team on AIDS.

Existing 24-month activities supported by the Global Fund Round 8 focus on key populations at higher risk of infection, including vulnerable women, truck drivers, khat and tea sellers, uniformed services, internally displaced persons (IDPs), irregular migrants, and most-at-risk youth. The programme focuses on "spaces of vulnerability" which impart increased opportunity for persons to engage in HIV risk behaviour, such as truck stops, ports, and border areas.

Projects

• Community-based HIV Prevention and Stigma Reduction
• HIV Prevention among Vulnerable and At-Risk Youth

Primary Health Care for Hard-to-Reach Populations
Irregular migrants, smuggled migrants, female sex workers, and other mobile populations face major obstacles in accessing basic primary care in Somalia. IOM proposes development of integrated health programming in migration-affected communities, woman-friendly services accessible to female sex workers, and expanded integration of health programming into Migrant Resource Centres in Somaliland and Puntland.

Migration and Development

Migration for Development in Africa (MIDA) is a capacity-building programme, which helps to mobilize competencies acquired by African nationals abroad for the benefit of Africa's development.

Based on its long experience in the Return of Qualified African Nationals (RQAN), IOM launched MIDA to strengthen its capacity building efforts in assisting African countries to benefit from the investment they have made in their nationals. Many African nationals in the diaspora are applying their qualifications and skills in developed countries. Such qualifications and skills should be brought back and channelled into the development of the African continent. Through its mobility-based approach, MIDA aims at helping African nationals to directly contribute to the development of their countries.

QUESTS-MIDA. QUESTS-MIDA is a joint initiative between UNDP Somalia and IOM that facilitates the transfer of skills, knowledge and experience from qualified Somali expatriates in the diaspora to public institutions in Somalia. QUESTS-MIDA works with authorities in Somalia to identify the need for capacity building assignments by experts in the Diaspora. Following targeted outreach to Somalis in North America, UK and the Nordic regions, IOM has placed 9 professionals in assignment in Somaliland and Puntland and looks to expand to the Transition Federal Government in 2010.

The project is intended to promote the mobilization of human and financial resources of Somali migrant women in Italy for the rehabilitation and development of their country of origin. The initiative has the aim of assisting migrant women who are interested in acting as development agents, develop and launch entrepreneurial or social projects that will directly benefit and engage their communities of origin.

MIDA Somalia. IOM is working with authorities in Somalia to recruit Somalis from the diaspora who have expertise in a number of areas that will support and build the capacity of institutions in Somalia.

Projects

• QUESTS-MIDA
• MIDA Somalia

Regulating Migration

Capacity Building in Migration Management
Somalia has seen intense and violent civil strife since 1991, consequently resulting in the collapse of government institutions, the displacement of a large section of its population, general insecurity, inter-clan violence and complex humanitarian emergencies. During the past decades, there has been essentially no effective control over the flow of migrants in and out of South Central Somalia. The porous condition of its borders has greatly contributed to the insecurity of Somalia and its neighbours. The lack of migration and border management capacity also negatively impacts on the protection environment experienced by migrants as well as asylum-seekers.

In response to requests for assistance by the authorities in Somalia, IOM developed the Capacity-building in Migration Management programme.

Main Project

• Capacity Building in Migration Management: Strengthening Protection and Security in South Central Somalia

Counter Trafficking
In the past three years IOM has been able to collect information providing initial evidence that human trafficking occurs in many parts of Somalia. In 2009, IOM initiated the first counter-trafficking programme in the three regions of Somaliland, Puntland and South Central Somalia, which generated much interest and support from regional authorities and civil society. Through its counter-trafficking projects, IOM was able to further establish evidence that victims are being trafficked within and out of Somalia. Findings from rapid assessments that IOM commissioned in Puntland and Somaliland confirmed that the phenomenon is indeed widespread. However, as in most other countries, the exact scale of trafficking in Somalia is difficult to determine and document, due to the very nature of this particular crime.

While internally displaced persons (IDPs), asylum seekers and economic migrants (both Somali and Ethiopian) are particularly vulnerable to human trafficking, it has been clearly established that others, mainly Somali women and children, and often from very poor families are also at high risk of trafficking.

Main Project

• Improving Protection of Migrants and Other Vulnerable Groups Travelling through
  Somaliland and Puntland to Yemen (Counter-trafficking component)

Assisted Voluntary Return
IOM is currently implementing assisted voluntary return assistance to Ethiopian migrants willing to return home from Somalia.

Large numbers of Ethiopian migrants living in Bosasso, a city in northern Somalia and the nation's main port, including some who have been in Somalia for the past 15 years, have requested IOM's assistance to return home.

Concerned by the safety of these migrants and increased attacks on them, IOM with funding from the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) has facilitated the return of up to 650 Ethiopian migrants. Majority of the returnees are women and their children as well as unaccompanied minors.

Main Project

• Return of Ethiopian Migrants from Somalia

Last updated:
Main text: August 2010
Facts and figures: April 2012