2015 MENA Annual Report
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Regional Office for the Middle East and North Africa The Middle East 47C, Abu El-Feda Street, Zamalek, Cairo, Egypt Tel.: +202 2736 5140 • Fax.: +202 2736 5139 • E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.iom.int and North Africa ANNUALREPORT2015 The opinions expressed in the report are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The designations employed and the presentation of material throughout the report do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of IOM concerning the legal status of Table of contents any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning its frontiers or boundaries. Introduction .......................................................................................... 2 IOM is committed to the principle that humane and orderly migration . The Mediterranean: Sea of hope and sorrow .................................. 4 benefits migrants and society. As an intergovernmental organization, 1 IOM acts with its partners in the international community to: assist in meeting the operational challenges of migration; advance understanding 2. Developing policy and strengthening partnerships ......................... 7 of migration issues; encourage social and economic development through migration; and uphold the human dignity and well-being of 3. Refugee resettlement from the Middle East and North Africa ........ 10 migrants. 4. Emergency, transition and recovery ................................................ 15 5. Working towards the protection of migrants’ Publisher: International Organization for Migration rights and States’ borders ............................................................... 19 17 route des Morillons P.O. Box 17 . Ensuring protection of vulnerable migrants .................................... 24 1211 Geneva 19 6 Switzerland . Engaging with migrants for development ....................................... 28 Tel: +41 22 717 9111 7 Fax: +41 22 798 6150 E-mail: [email protected] 8. Publications ..................................................................................... 31 Website: www.iom.int © 2016 International Organization for Migration (IOM) All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior written permission of the publisher. Cover photo: These women and fifteen of their family members are living in a temporary shelter after being displaced from their home in Rural Damascus. © IOM 2015 47_16 The Middle East and North Africa Annual Report 2015 Introduction The International Organization for Migration (IOM) was However, protracted crises and political and social instability founded in 1951, in the aftermath of World War II in order to have been among the top drivers of migration in, to and from assist displaced people. the region, causing people to move on an unprecedented scale. In 2015, conflicts continued unabated in Iraq, Libya, Sudan, Sixty-four years later, human mobility is an essential feature the Syrian Arab Republic and Yemen, while their neighbouring of the modern world. The Middle East and North Africa region countries struggled to deal with the effects on their societies hosts one of the world’s largest migrant populations, with and infrastructures. more than 34 million migrants in 2015 according to data by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.1 The statistics of these conflicts are almost unimaginable – Saudi Arabia hosts the fourth largest migrant population over 4 million Syrians are refugees and a further 7 million worldwide. The majority of migrants from the Arab region stay in the region, while migration from outside the region – are internally displaced. There are over 3.2 million displaced especially from Asia – is also on the increase. people in Iraq as a result of insecurity. Over 80 per cent of Yemenis are in need of humanitarian assistance. One million People move to, through and from the region for a variety – people crossed the Mediterranean in 2015, seeking safety, and combination – of reasons. Labour migration to the Gulf sanctuary and stability. States, partly from other Arab States as well as from further afield, continues to be a central component of their economic Behind the numbers, it is too easy to forget the stories of growth. North African countries have continued to host people individual men, women, and children whose lives are marked from sub-Saharan African countries seeking employment or by migration and marred by displacement every day. attempting to cross the Mediterranean to make their futures in Europe. In 2015, IOM launched the global “I Am a Migrant” campaign, to battle xenophobia, humanize the statistics, and celebrate the diversity and potential among those who are collectively 1 Based on data by the Population Commission of the United Nations Department labelled “migrants”. In this report, too, we take a step of Economic and Social Affairs, presented in www.un.org/en/development/desa/ back from statistics to focus on the people rather than the population/migration/publications/migrationreport/docs/MigrationReport2015_ Highlights.pdf numbers. n 2 ANNUAL REPORT 2015 Migrants who were rescued off the coast of Tunisia come ashore. Once on land, IOM provides health assistance and provides immediate relief in the form of food and clothing. © IOM 2015 1. The Mediterranean: Sea of hope and sorrow Dominating the headlines in 2015 was the significant shift in the migrants from Eritrea (39,162), the Gambia (8,454), Nigeria scale of the movement of people, particularly from the Levant, (22,237), Somalia (12,433), Sudan (8,932), the Syrian Arab through Turkey and into Europe via Greece. This reflected a Republic (7,488) and beyond.2 dramatic change from previous years, when migrants, refugees, and asylum-seekers had attempted to reach Europe primarily Mixed migration is a recurring characteristic of migration through North African countries, particularly Libya, and to a to, through, and from the Middle East and North Africa. lesser extent Egypt and Tunisia. Over the course of 2015, over Research carried out by IOM and partners in 2015 underlines 1 million people crossed the Mediterranean – 3,770 migrants the complexity of mixed migration: for instance, Migration perished on route. Trends Across the Mediterranean: Connecting the Dots, which analysed trends along the Western and Central Mediterranean In 2015, over 850,000 people, including Syrians (475,902) and routes, found that migration is driven by political and Iraqis (86,989) used the Eastern Mediterranean route to enter economic instability, conflict, socioeconomic aspirations Europe. Increasingly precarious living conditions in the home/ and protection needs, and that these drivers often combine. host countries, an uncertain future, and dwindling hopes that Frequently, refugees and asylum-seekers among those moving the situation in the Syrian Arab Republic would improve were along the Central and Western Mediterranean routes seek among the main factors prompting the movement of Syrians not only protection but also economic stability. Significantly, and Iraqis towards Europe in 2015. the research also confirmed that Europe is not necessarily the intended destination: many have migrated within their region This represented a shift from 2014, when the Central first and moved on only many years later, after being unable to Mediterranean route was the most heavily used. While this find the desired opportunities closer to their home countries change in numbers is not immediately significant, in the and in North Africa, or due to insecurity in those countries. context of the number of people who arrived in Europe in 2015, it marks a significant decline in the overall popularity of the route. While the Eastern Mediterranean route was dominated by refugees from the Syrian Arab Republic and Iraq, arrivals in Italy via the central route were more diverse, comprising 2 Figures based on IOM operational information. For more information, see http:// missingmigrants.iom.int/mediterranean and http://migration.iom.int/europe/ 4 ANNUAL REPORT 2015 Many migrants seeking to travel to or through North Africa, particularly Libya, will end up in a detention centre. Migrant youth and minors are no exception, as detailed in Mixed Migration Hub research Detained Youth: The Fate of Young Migrants, Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Libya Today, which reveals a consistent pattern of young migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers held in arbitrary detention in squalid, cramped conditions for months at a time without any form of due process. Responding to the needs of those in detention and in other vulnerable situations, IOM has worked to protect migrants’ rights, address drivers of irregular migration, and promote safe and beneficial human mobility. IOM’s Mediterranean Migrants and refugees attempting to reach Germany write graffiti messages Response Plan, issued in 2015, details the Organization’s on the walls of Hungary’s Keleti train station. © IOM 2015 strategy and multiregional approach. IOM works in countries of origin, transit and destination to ensure that migrants’ Exploitation, vulnerability and human rights abuses are the rights are respected, and that vulnerable migrants receive unfortunate hallmarks of mixed migration in North Africa. all necessary protections. Across the Middle East and North Conditions and