Mauritius

Located in the Indian Ocean, off the south-east coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar, the Republic of Mauritius is an island state composed its main island, Mauritius, and several outer islands (Rodrigues, Agaléga, Saint Brandon).

The Republic of Mauritius became an IOM member state in June 2006 and signed a cooperation agreement with IOM in September 2007. Following this agreement, IOM opened a Country Office in Port Louis, making it one of very few UN agencies with a permanent presence in Mauritius. In Mauritius, the mission also serves as liaison office with the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC), with whom IOM signed a cooperation agreement in November 2013, thus establishing strong affiliation with the IOC General Secretariat based in Mauritius.

Without an indigenous population, Mauritians are mainly descended from Indian indentured labourers, Chinese traders, African slaves, and Dutch, French and British colonists. Mauritius is home to approximately 1,3 M people and is both a destination country and a country of origin for international migration.

Since 2007, IOM Mauritius has supported the Government of Mauritius in addressing the challenges of migration and capitalizing on migration as a tool for development. IOM Mauritius has implemented a range of programmes and provided technical support in the areas of migration management, labour and facilitated migration, diaspora engagement, counter-trafficking, voluntary return and reintegration, migration and the environment, health and migration, etc.

Migration & Development – Diaspora Engagement 

Building the Capacity of the Mauritian Government to Strengthen the Linkages with the Mauritian Diaspora

• Objective: Contribute to increased diaspora contribution to social and economic development of Mauritius.
• Lead Ministry: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade
• Donor: IOM Development Fund
• Scope: National (Mauritius)

Pilot Youth Diaspora Volunteering Project, Mauritius

• ​Objective: Contribute to strengthened government capacity to engage the youth Mauritian diaspora for national development.
• Lead Ministry: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade
• Donor: IOM Development Fund
• ​Scope: National (Mauritius)

 

Border Management – Migration and Maritime Security

Supporting the Western Indian Ocean Mechanism for Maritime Security: Promoting Maritime Governance on Migration Issues in the Indian Ocean Commission Region

• ​Objective: Contribute to a reduction in risks and threats posed by migration-related transnational organized maritime crime, including migrant smuggling, in the Western Indian Ocean region.
• Partners: Indian Ocean Commission, Regional Maritime Information Fusion Center (RMIFC) and the Regional Coordination Operations Centre (RCOC)
• Donor: IOM Development Fund
• ​​Scope: Regional (Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles)

 

Migrant Assistance and Protection – Counter Human Trafficking

Improve trafficking in persons referral outcome in Comoros and Mauritius

• Objective: To contribute to key national Governments and civil society’s efforts in combating trafficking in persons in Comoros and Mauritius, through institutionalization and implementation of national referral mechanisms.  
• ​Donor: US Department of State, Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (JTIP)
• Lead Ministry: Prime Minister’s Office (Home Affairs)
• Scope: Multi-country (Comoros, Mauritius)

National Action Plan against Trafficking in Persons

• Finalization and implementation of the Counter Trafficking National Action Plan

Migrant Assistance and Protection – Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration (AVRR)

Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration (AVRR)

• IOM Mauritius assists with the return and reintegration of Mauritians in a vulnerable situation from various countries through different AVRR programmes. Providing assistance for basic necessities upon return, and sometimes the setting up of businesses for sustainable reintegration.

 

Labour Mobility

Bilateral Cooperation

• Support and facilitation of bilateral exchanges on labour mobility

Ethical Recruitment and Responsible Labour Supply Chain Management

• Ensuring that recruitment is conducted in an ethical manner is integral to the protection of migrant workers at all stages of the migration cycle and requires a collaborative effort of all relevant stakeholders. Therefore, IOM is working in close collaboration with the government of Mauritius and the private sector to promote and support ethical recruitment practices as well as responsible management throughout the labour supply chain.

 

Facilitated Migration

Canadian Visa Application Centre (CVAC)

• Since 2016, IOM operates a Canadian Visa Application Centre (CVAC) in Port Louis, for visitor visas, study and work permits, and permanent resident cards from Mauritius.

 

Migration Management

Migration Management in Southern Africa

• ​Objective: Improve migration management in the Southern Africa and Indian Ocean region.
• Partners: COMESA, IOC, SADC, ILO, IOM, UNHCR, UNODC
• Scope: Regional (Angola, Botswana, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe)
• Donor : European Commission

Migration Data

• Efforts to prioritize the improvement of migration data are verified at the global level by the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM), which puts the need to “Collect and utilize accurate and disaggregated data as a basis for evidence-based policies” as its first objective. The need for timely and reliable data to inform migration policies and programming within SADC has been evidenced by one of the recommendations emerging from the 2017 Ministerial Dialogue for Southern Africa (MIDSA), which encourages Member States to “Build capacities to collect and analyze migration data to strengthen evidence-based policy-making.”

Dialogue sur la Migration pour les pays de la COI (DiMOI)

• Objective: Facilitate informal, non-binding dialogue, information exchange and sharing of experiences and good practices on migration, capacity building in migration management, regional cooperation on migration matters and compilation and exchange of migration data and among IOC member States.
• ​Partner: Indian Ocean Commission (IOC)

Migration Governance Indicator

• ​As part of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular, the General Assembly requested the Secretary-General to prepare a biennial report on (a) the implementation of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, (b) the activities of the UN system in this regard, and (c) the functioning of the institutional arrangements. The SG biennial report has been shared with Mauritus (through permanent missions in Geneva) in May 2020, inviting Member states to contribute to the preparation of this report.

Migration Environment and Climate Change (MECC)

Mainstreaming Environmental Dimensions in Integration, Reintegration and Relocation Initiatives in Lesotho and Mauritius

• ​Objective: Explore the interlinkages between environment and climate change and migration in Lesotho and Mauritius with the aim to contribute to the sustainability of integration, reintegration and planed relocation as adaptation strategies to climate change. Donor / budget: IOM Development Fund
• ​Scope: Multi country (Lesotho, Mauritius)

Partners

• IOM Development Fund
• Indian Ocean Commission (IOC)
• Swedish International Development Cooperation
• UNDP Mauritius and Seychelles
• Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment and Training
• Ministry of Environment, Sustainable Development, and Disaster and Beach Management
• Office of the Prime Minister

Related links

• Creating Regional Synergies to Foster South-South Labour Mobility in Southern Africa
• Partnership on Health and Mobility in East and Southern Africa (PHAMESA)
• Migration, Environment and Climate Change: Evidence for Policy (MECLEP)

Contact information

12th Floor, Atalian Tower,
57 Labourdonnais street.
Port Louis,Mauritius
Tel:  +230 2104250
Email: iommauritius@iom.int