Since April 2017, IOM, the UN Migration Agency in collaboration with the Federal Government of Nigeria has assisted over 8,000 stranded Nigerian migrants to return home from transit and destination countries along the Mediterranean irregular migratory route. Of the total number, over 7,000 returned from Libyan detention centres and urban areas while 750 were from neighbouring countries, mainly Niger and Mali.
One charter flight carrying 218 returnees landed at the Murtala International Airport in Lagos on May 8, bringing to 8,140 the total number of Nigerians who were assisted by IOM thanks to the EUTF-IOM Joint Initiative for Migrant Protection and Reintegration. Since the launch of the Joint Initiative in Nigeria in April 2017, IOM has facilitated 39 charter flights from Libya.
Upon their arrival, the returnees receive immediate assistance such as food, medical screening, overnight accommodation and 100 Euros pocket money to cover their immediate basic needs including in-county onward transportation cost. The Initiative works with governmental and CSO partners to provide assistance, including referral of severe medical and mental health cases to hospitals for further treatment.
“I am glad to return back home and start my life again in Nigeria after all the troubles I went through in Libya in search of greener pastures. The pain and experience I went through in trying to cross over to Italy was unbearable. I lost my friends to the desert and some at sea. I’d rather stay and invest in my country than risk my life in the hands of smugglers,” said Rescue Esosa, a returnee from Libya. Nigeria was for two years in a row the main nationality of those who arrived in Italy by sea with 36, 352 arrivals in 2016 and 18,158 in 2017.
In the following months, the returnees will receive in kind reintegration assistance as well as business management skills training. The training aims to provide a platform where returnees.
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