Wednesday October 20, 2021
Bossaso (HOL) - The UN's International Organization for Migration (IOM) and Puntland have successfully repatriated 42 Ethiopian refugees living in Bossaso.
The refugees took advantage of an IOM's Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration (AVRR)program to assist refugees with repatriation and were airlifted from Bossaso. Officials confirmed that they returned safely to Ethiopia.
Some of these refugees have been stranded in Bossaso for months and have expressed a desire to return home.
The return was funded by the EU-IOM Joint Initiative and carried out in coordination with Puntland's Ministry of the Interior, the Ethiopian Consulate, and the Migration Response Center in Bosaso.
Every year, thousands of women, men, and children, primarily Ethiopians, pass through the Puntland city of Bossaso - one of the first legs along the Eastern Migration Route - to seek better opportunities in the Gulf.
The IOM has said that since the closure of the Yemen-Saudi Arabia border, African migrants have been desperate to return home due to their inability to find work.