IOM Pakistan collects data on the outflows of undocumented Afghan migrants at the Torkham and Chaman border crossing points in an effort to better understand the migration movements of undocumented Afghan migrants returning to Afghanistan from Pakistan. This report is part of the European Union funded project ‘‘Displacement Tracking Matrix Regional Evidence for Migration Analysis and Policy (DTM REMAP)”.

This edition of ‘A Region on the Move’ covers the first six months of 2021 in the East and Horn of Africa region (EHoA). The current mid-year mobility overview provides an outline of some of the main socio-political events that occurred between January and June 2021, as well as an overview of the main population movement trends that affected the region. Migration flows are of particular importance in the region, as mobility is used both as a coping mechanism and an economic engine.

The outbreak of COVID-19 has affected global mobility through various travel disruptions and restrictions. To better understand how the pandemic affects global mobility, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) has developed an online tool and database to register points of entry (POE), exit and transit, where mobility restrictions and response measures are in place. To support these efforts, the Displacement Tracking Matrix Regional Evidence for Migration Analysis and Policy (DTM REMAP) team in Pakistan mapped and gathered data on the current statuses of POEs in the country.

Between September and October 2021, the DTM REMAP team in Pakistan monitored 17 POEs. These included nine airports, six land borders and two blue borders. The status of various POEs changed significantly between September and October 2021 due to a decrease in COVID-19 cases, changes to the security situation and fluctuations in national and international mobility restrictions. At the end of September, twelve POEs were fully operational, four were partially operational and one was fully closed.

At the end of October, twelve POEs were fully operational, three were partially operational and two were fully closed. On 2nd September, the Chaman bording crossing was temporarily closed due to security concerns. Because of similar security concerns, on 13th September the Torkham border was closed for pedestrians. However, it was opened a day later exclusively for Afghan nationals entering Afghanistan. On 29th September, the Taftan border crossing with the Islamic Republic of Iran was closed from both sides causing major disruptions and suspension of trade. In early October, the Chaman border crossing was closed again by the authorities due to security concerns. This caused major disruptions for traders and travelers on both sides of the border. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) issued a new advisory that made COVID-19 vaccination certificates mandatory for air travel starting from 1st October for passengers aged 18 years old and above. As per the latest directives, international and domestic travel would not be allowed without COVID-19 vaccinations after 30th September. CAA also updated the number of Category-C countries (International travel to Pakistan from the ‘Category-C’ countries is banned) from 23 to 12 for inbound travel to Pakistan.

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic at the beginning of 2020 has affected global and regional mobility, including mobility in the DTM REMAP project countries, through various travel disruptions and restrictions. To better understand how the pandemic affects global mobility, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) developed an online tool and database to register points of entry, exit and transit - such as airports and land and blue border crossing points - where mobility restrictions and preparedness and response measures are in place. To support these efforts, over a period of 12 months, the Displacement Tracking Matrix Regional Evidence for Migration Analysis and Policy (DTM REMAP) national teams mapped and gathered data on the locations, statuses and restrictions at Points of Entry (PoE) in the project countries. The information gathered allows more in-depth analysis to uncover specific trends related to the locations, statuses and restrictions of PoEs in these countries. During the reporting period, the number of assessed PoEs in the DTM REMAP project countries gradually increased from 155 to 2091 PoEs. The most common type of PoE reported in August 2021 was land borders (111), followed by airports (73) and blue borders (25). Areas of interest, populations of interest and internal transit points were also assessed but were not taken into account for further analysis in this snapshot.

In September 2021, a total of 20,910 movements were observed across five of Ethiopia's flow monitoring points (FMPs). It should be noted that data collection at Humera Flow Monitoring Point in Tigray region did not take place due to security and access constraints, thus affecting the total number of movements for the month. This represents an 8.9% decrease in daily average movements in comparison with August 2021 when an average of 765 movements per day were observed.

Despite the decrease in movements this month, outgoing movements during September have continued to be higher than ever (85.3%) than incoming movements (14.7%). The percentage of outgoing versus incoming movements has continued to climb even above the proportions observed prior to the outbreak of COVID-19 in Ethiopia. A total of 17,828 outgoing movements were observed of which 8,991 (50.4%) were heading towards Saudi Arabia, 2,634 (14.8%) were going to Djibouti, 2,043 (11.5%) were travelling towards Kenya, 854 (4.8%) to South Africa, 674 (3.8%) intended to reach the United Arab Emirates, and 407(2.3%) headed to Qatar.

This dashboard compiles flow monitoring survey (FMS) data collected in Lesotho between March and June 2021 and provides an analysis of migrants’ demographic and socio-economic profiles, including education and employment backgrounds; reasons for leaving their country of origin or habitual residence; future travel intentions; awareness of the COVID-19 outbreak; and challenges faced as a result of it.

In addition, the revised FMS form has also been enhanced with labour mobility and human development (LHD) indicators with a particular focus on the migrants’ highest level of educational qualification achieved and main subject areas, their employment status before migrating, as well as the impact of COVID-19 on remittances.

Majority of migrants interviewed are from Lekhalong in Mafeteng district and most of them are Basotho. During  this four months (March to June), a total of 777 surveys were conducted in four districts, Basotho (715), South Africa (52)  and Others (10). Most of the respondents were adult males (52%) and female (48%). Most respondents displayed awareness of the ongoing  COVID-19 pandemic (99%). Most of respondents from Lesotho where originary from Mohaleshoek, representing 43% per cent, followed by respondents from Mafeteng (39%),followed by Qacha’s Neck (10% and Quthing (8%)