The Trumpet Newspaper Issue 551 (August 11 - 24 2021)

Page2 TheTrumpet AUGUST 11 - 24 2021
News
Alone and Afraid: Protecting
unaccompanied migrant children
along the ‘Eastern Route’
Continued from Page 1<
The first is from the migrants’ countries of
origin to Obock in Djibouti or Bosaso in
Somalia. The second involves the sea
journey between Obock or Bosaso and
Yemen, and the border crossing point from
Yemen to other Gulf States – mainly the
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).
Typically, over 90 per cent of the
migrants who arrive in Yemen hope to
make it to KSA, but with increased border
security since April 2020 due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, crossing into the
country has become almost impossible.
“Many had hoped to find work in the
Gulf to repay the debt that financed their
journey and send money home to their
families,” says Mouna Ibrahim, National
Protection Officer at IOM Djibouti.
Amara plays at the Caritas children’s shelter before her departure to reunite with family in Ethiopia. Photo
- IOM, Hawa Diallo)
“However, their hopes were dashed once
they discovered that it would be
impossible to reach their final destination
due to border restrictions.”
As a result, at least 32,000 migrants
have been stranded in Yemen, living with
extremely limited access to shelter, health
care, food and water. Migrants in Yemen
are subjected to human rights abuses
including kidnapping, exploitation, and
arbitrary detention. These risks existed
before the pandemic but have been rising
over the past 18 months.
With few options to return home,
migrants along this route mainly risk using
smugglers for the sea crossing back to
Djibouti and Somalia without any
guarantee of safe arrival. Smugglers use
small, unseaworthy and overcrowded
boats that can easily capsize. Occasionally
some throw migrants overboard to reduce
the weight.
Migrants at the MRC participate in a social activity aimed at raising awareness on the risks and dangers of
irregular migration. (Photo - IOM, Alexander Bee)
According to IOM’s 2020 , Ethiopian
men make up 72 per cent of movements
along this route, but IOM is observing a
higher number of Unaccompanied Migrant
Children (UMCs) taking this dangerous
journey that cuts through desert regions,
the sea and war-torn Yemen. The
proportion of UMCs increased between
2019 (6 per cent) and 2020 (9 per cent).
Overall, UMCs make up 71 per cent of all
migrating children along the ‘Eastern
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at Isoko
Estates
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route’ in 2020, compared to 46 per cent in
2019.
It is common for many of these
children to leave their homes without
information about the journey ahead.
Some are not even aware that they will be
crossing a body of water or passing
through conflict areas. Research by IOM
indicates that more than half (59 per cent)
of the first-time migrants recently
interviewed in Obock did not inform their
families of their decision to migrate before
their departure, most commonly due to
fear their family would have prevented
them from going or because they did not
want to worry them.
The , developed by IOM and the
African Union, explains that children –
with or without their families – migrate or
flee within Africa for a variety of reasons,
often in search of livelihoods and other
social support that allows them to access
their basic needs.
“Migrant children along the ‘Eastern
route’ are especially vulnerable to
Continued on Page 4<
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