Africa-Press – Kenya. International Organisation for Migration (IOM) director general António Vitorino is in the country ahead of the launch of the 2023 Migrant Response Plan (MRP). A total of Sh10 billion ($84 million) to support over one million migrants from the Horn of Africa is targeted in the initiative.
The funds are to be used to provide lifesaving humanitarian assistance; protection interventions and development support for the migrants and host communities on the route from the Horn of Africa to Yemen and the Gulf, known as the ‘Eastern Route’.
IOM says every year more than 250,000 migrants including young men, women and children leave their countries in the Horn of Africa for the Gulf nations in search of better livelihood opportunities.
“Recent trends show an increase in movement of young women and children who in 2022 accounted for 32 per cent of those moving along the route with over 45,000 migrants currently stranded on the route,” IOM says.
The devastating effects of climate change conflicts and overall, poor socio-economic conditions are said to be the key drivers of migration. Many of the migrants are said to face extreme dangers such as dehydration and hunger among other risks as they struggle to reach their destinations.
A 2022 Missing Migrants Project recorded 89 deaths or disappearances along the Eastern Route due to hazardous transportation, illness, harsh environmental conditions, drowning at sea, violence, accidental death and mixed or unknown causes. Many more deaths are said to go unreported.
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