West and Central Africa — COVID-19 — Regional Flow Monitoring Report (June 2020)

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected mobility in West and Central Africa in the form of various travel disruptions, restrictions and bans, which often leave migrants stranded. This report provides key information on the magnitude and types of changes to mobility observed in the context of the COVID-19 crisis.

The Flow Monitoring Registry (FMR) is a tool of IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) which records movements crossing areas of high-density mobility (areas of departure, transit and destination). FMR gathers data on the numbers and profiles of travellers crossing these strategic transit points. To better understand the ways and the extent to which the COVID-19 crisis is impacting mobility in the region, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) has been working to analyse Flow Monitoring data collected at key transit points in West and Central Africa between January to June 2020 (using 2018 and 2019 data as barometers of comparison). Due to mobility restrictions and the pandemic spread, FMPs in Burkina Faso, Guinea and Senegal have been put on hold. This report focuses on Chad, Mali, Niger and Nigeria data only as these FMPs were open in June 2020 and compared with 2019 data for these countries.