Algeria - The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is launching today a USD 8.3 Million appeal to maintain and scale up the provision of safe and dignified return for thousands of migrants in Algeria.

The funds are required for a one-year plan that aims to offer Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration (AVRR) to 3,000 migrants that have already been registered including temporary accommodation to approximately 1,500 migrants at the IOM-run transit centre ‘DARV (Dispositif d’Accueil pour le Retour Volontaire (‘DARV).

IOM has been receiving growing requests for AVRR and temporary accommodation from migrants since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic reaching up to 1,000 queries per month. Migrants are usually hosted at DARV for a limited period during the finalisation of the pre-departure procedures, where they are offered accommodation in rooms divided by sex, three meals per day, hygiene kits and other non-food items (NFIs) according to the needs.

“We trust that the donor community will understand the strategic value of consolidating recent achievements of AVRR in Algeria, which represent a key migration management component in the current context, with clear benefits not only for the migrants but also for the Government of Algeria,” said Paolo Caputo, IOM's Chief of Mission in Algeria. “The required funding will allow IOM to provide medical and psychosocial support to approximately 3,000 migrants before they travel back home. The funding will also enable the organization to offer protection and assistance services to those in need. These include legal assistance and safe shelter.”

Since establishment of DARV beginning 2020, a total of 351 individual psychosocial support have been delivered to migrants in need, while 20 migrants received life skills training sessions and 26 migrants benefitted from art therapy prior their departure in 2021. In addition, and despite COVID-19 impediments, IOM Algeria has also assisted more than 1,300 migrants over the past 12 months, of which 1,100 through voluntary return flights.

Once met, funding raised will enable IOM to facilitate the provision of reintegration support to eligible returnees to ensure their sustainable reintegration in countries of origin. Reintegration support is being provided under ongoing projects such as the European Union-funded EU-IOM Joint-Initiative for Migrant Protection and Reintegration.

Finally, funds will be used to boost IOM’s outreach capacity to inform thousands of migrants in Algeria about the AVRR programme and pre-register those who are willing to voluntarily return home. This will be done using the existing outreach tools, including in-person information sessions and IOM Algeria social media Facebook and Instagram pages.

Background information:

Since its establishment in 2016, IOM’s office in Algeria has assisted over 2000 migrants with voluntary, safe and dignified return to their countries of origin and provided the basis for their sustainable reintegration once they arrive home. Most assisted migrants are from Niger, Mali, Guinea, Nigeria and the Ivory Coast.

 For more information, please contact Elena Imberti at IOM Algeria, Email: eimberti@iom.int and Ghazi Mabrouk at the IOM Regional Office for the Middle East and North Africa, Email: gmabrouk@iom.int, Tel: +201011478084.