IOM calls for safer migration from HOA to Gulf countries

Addis Ababa, October 10, 2024 (FBC) – The head of the U.N. International Organization for Migration, alias IOM, has called for safe migration to and from the Gulf countries as the dangerous eastern Horn of Africa route claims more lives.

The so-called eastern route runs from the Horn of Africa to Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf by way of Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia and Yemen. Migrant workers, mainly from Ethiopia but also from other East African countries, travel over the route in search of jobs and economic opportunities.

At least 48 people died and 75 others were missing or presumed dead after smugglers forced migrants off two boats on October 1 in the Red Sea, off the coast of Djibouti. Almost all of the migrants were Ethiopians.

Speaking at the IOM’s regional review of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration held Wednesday in Ethiopia, Director-General Amy Pope said more people were being harmed on the eastern route than on any other migration route in the world, though it does not get a lot of attention.

“What it demonstrates is that we need to build up safe and regular ways for people to move because we know, for example, within the Gulf, there are tremendous opportunities for people to go and live and work, whether they’re going in low-skilled sectors or they’re going in higher-skilled sectors,” she said, commenting on the recent deaths off the Djibouti coast.

“There should be no reason for people to have to move through a smuggler, through a trafficker, a route that will subject them to exploitation and often abuse,” she said.

At the regional review, Pope called on the international community to address the root causes of migration, including conflicts, development and climate shocks.

The IOM chief was quoted by VOA, saying: “The drivers of migration are really complex; some of it is about peace. We see, for example, the situation in Sudan, where there are millions of people who have been pushed out of their homes. The solution, the root cause of that, is the conflict, and until there’s peace in Sudan, then people will continue to move.”

“In other cases, it’s the impact of poverty and the lack of economic opportunity for people at home, and the answer to that is about development and governance,” Pope said, adding that countries need to assume responsibility and address climate change, which she identified as one of the drivers of migration.

“On the one hand, it means that governments need to take seriously their obligations to mitigate the impact of climate change, but importantly, that is just not going to be enough, because we know people are being forced to move now,” she said.

“So, working with communities to adapt to climate change and ensuring there are resources to help people who’ve already been displaced by climate change will be critical moving forward.”

Pope urged governments to work together to ensure people vulnerable to exploitation — especially people who are being recruited by smugglers and traffickers — can migrate safely and obtain the information they need to access a regular pathway for migration.