EU-IOM Joint Initiative

for Migrant Protection and Reintegration

Fanteherou is located one kilometre from Obock, Djibouti’s coastal town frequented by migrants travelling to or from Yemen, a transit location to the Arabian Peninsula.

Obock has a population of about 20,000 and is a place that has adjusted to hosting migrants, with Fanteherou being a frontline community.

In fact, many migrants spend time in Fanteherou where they have access to drinking water from communal wells.

The migrants are mainly Ethiopians, a significant of whom are children, intent on finding work opportunities on the other side of the Gulf of Aden.

In Fanteherou, just like across the entire region, water is a scarce life-saving resource needed to wade off dehydration. This is especially true in a country where summer (June-September) temperatures hover around 46 degrees, amid high humidity.

Migrants are tolerated in Fanteherou although during a recent focus group discussion some within the local community expressed concern at what they see as a general rise in littering. Migrants can stay in the area for days, catching a breath and considering their next step.

“Migrants very often land in this area through the hand of smugglers,” remarks one resident.

On the whole the area has significant contact with migrants and also identifies with their situation.

According to another resident: “We have the feeling of being in the same boat sometimes, given the harsh climatic conditions (heat and sandstorms) and water scarcity and with our status of people displaced sometimes for climatic reasons. These situations ensure that we sympathize with and assist vulnerable migrants to the best of our ability.”

In response, a migrant remarks: “We find ourselves here by chance on our way in search of a better life. In general, we feel that we are welcome and we also understand the precarious situation in which this community lives, which gives us so much.”

These sentiments were expressed at an open dialogue session organised by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in collaboration with the Fanteherou Women's Association, which is actively working to respond to the many challenges facing the community, especially relative poverty.

The aim of the interaction was to better comprehend feelings within the two communities with the aim of creating mutual understanding. In attendance were community members and migrant representatives.

“This type of initiative allows for a better understanding of the determinants of cohesion and the challenges to be met in order to find alternatives together to promote the mutual adaptation of migrants and the host community,” says Mohamed Abdallah from IOM Djibouti.

 A migrant observes that the number of stranded migrants has increased in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic but that this has not led to any change in the attitudes of community members.

In response, a resident chimes in: “It is true that there have been more migrants because of restrictions and the period of their stay has been prolonged accordingly, but the problem remains that of managing water points and household waste which has increased.”

To assist in managing the communal wells, IOM stepped in to reinforce the main water points with concrete and the installation of mechanical pumps in order to cut down on the risk of contamination.

As to the way ahead after the dialogue, various proposals emerge, including strengthening the work of the Fanteherou Women's Association, appointing hygiene and community sensitizers, conducting awareness-raising actions to maintain and preserve water points, as well as organizing a day of waste collection involving both host community members and migrants.

Funding for IOM’s work in Obock is provided by the European Union through three projects: ‘Durable Solutions for Host Populations, Refugees and Migrants in Djibouti’, the ‘EU-IOM Joint Initiative for Migrant Protection and Reintegration in the Horn of Africa’ and ‘Direct Assistance to Vulnerable Migrants Transiting Through the Northern Parts of the Migration Corridor in Djibouti’, funded by the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO).

Story by Wilson Johwa