EU-IOM Joint Initiative

for Migrant Protection and Reintegration

Cairo- Aiming to strengthen reintegration and referral systems in Egypt, between Sunday 31 January and Wednesday 3 February, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) organized a workshop on Assistance to Vulnerable Migrants.

Attended by representatives of the government of Egypt and IOM experts, the workshop was carried out as part of the European Union funded EU-IOM Joint Initiative for Migrant Protection and Reintegration in North Africa.

During the event, protection and reintegration case studies were discussed and migration terminology and IOM programmes and services in Egypt were presented.

“Case studies about migrants protection were very useful and enabled me to understand the reintegration process from IOM’s experience and perspective,” said Rania Ahmed Hamoud, National Coordinator at the Egyptian German Centre for Jobs Migration and Reintegration and Senior National Strategist at Ministry of Immigration and Egyptian Expatriates Affairs.

As part of the EU-IOM Joint Initiative, IOM is providing direct assistance to stranded and vulnerable migrants in Egypt and is enabling those who decide to return to their countries of origin to do so in a safe and dignified way. The programme is also providing returning migrants in Egypt with reintegration support to help them rebuild their lives.

“The workshop helped me to understand and differentiate between the different terminologies like violence, abuse and Exploitation,” said Dr Ahmed Ragaey, Acting Head of the Programme Department at the Egyptian Red Crescent.

“It is good to have a common approach to provide case management for migrants,” he added.

Last year, more than 2500 migrants and returnees in Alexandria, Cairo, Hurghada and Al-Fayoum received food and hygiene kits from the EU-IOM Joint Initiative. 215 (125 female and 90 male) migrants were assisted to return from Egypt voluntarily and safely to their countries of origin.

Supported by the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa, the EU-IOM Joint Initiative is the first comprehensive programme bringing together 26 African countries of the Sahel and Lake Chad region, the Horn of Africa, and North Africa, the EU and IOM around the shared goal of ensuring that migration is safer, more informed and better governed for both migrants and their communities.

The North Africa window of the programme started in June 2019. It covers Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia.