Dashboard/Fact Sheet

The Central Sahel area, and in particular the Liptako Gourma region, which borders Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, is affected by a complex crisis involving growing competition over dwindling resources; climatic variability; demographic pressure; high levels of poverty; disaffection and a lack of livelihood opportunities; communal tensions; the absence of state institutions and basic services; and violence related to organized crime and non-state armed groups. The crisis has triggered significant displacement of populations in the concerned countries and is affecting neighbouring countries such as Mauritania and the coastal countries.

As of August 2023, 2,948,799 individuals have been displaced, including 2,627,130 internally displaced persons (89% of the displaced population) and 321,669 refugees (11% of the displaced population). Seventy-one per cent of the displaced populations (2,098,917 individuals) were located in Burkina Faso, while 15 per cent resided in Mali (439,026 individuals), 9 per cent in Niger (262,672 individuals) and 3 per cent in Mauritania (102,400 individuals). The crisis’ recent spill over to coastal countries, namely Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo and Benin, shows growing number of refugees coming from the Central Sahel and populations internally displaced. As of August, 45,784 individuals were affected by displacement within the four countries (2,293 in Benin, 1 in Côte d’Ivoire, 6,654 in Ghana and 36,836 in Togo) of which 22,818 were internally displaced. Other estimations account for 69,950 refugees currently living in the four countries (10,000 in Benin, 31,838 in Côte d’Ivoire, 8,112 in Ghana and 20,000 in Togo)*.

The crisis currently affecting the Lake Chad Basin states results from a complex combination of factors, including conflict with non-state armed groups, extreme poverty, underdevelopment and a changing climate, which together have triggered significant displacement of populations. As of August 2023, Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria were hosting an estimated 6,077,690 affected individuals made up of internally displaced persons (IDPs), returnees (former IDPs and returnees from abroad) and refugees (both in- and out-of-camp). Twelve per cent of the affected population (750,373 individuals) were located in Cameroon, while 5 per cent resided in Chad (307,517 individuals), 7 per cent in Niger (430,708 individuals) and finally, 76 per cent in Nigeria (4,589,092 individuals). Overall, the numbers show increases in IDPs and returnees former IDPs since December 2022 within the region, with respectively 5 and 12 per cent variations. The IDPs numbers have increased in Cameroon (+11%), Chad (+8%) and Niger (+2%) but have shown a slight decrease in Nigeria (-3%). Figures for returnees from abroad and refugees have slightly decreased in the region since December 2022, by 1 and 3 per cent respectively. 

In August 2023, 25,213 migratory movements were observed at flow monitoring points (FMP) in Dijibouti, with a daily average of 813 migratory movements. Migration flows observed across all FMPs increased by 17% in August compared to July 2023 during which 21,573 movements were recorded.

Of these 25,213 movements, 4,357 (17%) were observed in the Obock region where migrants cross the Gulf of Aden towards the Arabian Peninsula. Migratory flows to the FMP of Obock have seen a drop of 6% compared to the month of July 2023. This drop can be attributed to the amplification of surveillance operations by the Djiboutian Coast Guard in Obock and due to difficult weather conditions in this period of violent winds and rough seas. 

Between January and August 2023, arrivals from Ethiopia (84,814) saw a significant increase of 42% compared to the same period of the previous year (59,609). Migratory movements were mainly: transiting towards the Arabian Peninsula (45%), incoming (43%), transiting within Djibouti (5%), transiting towards Ethiopia (4%), and outgoing (3%). Spontaneous returns from Yemen fell by 57% from 805 in July to 349 in Augusts, including women (7%).

The objective of the Emergency Tracking Tool (ETT) is to collect information on large and sudden population movements as well as on security and climate emergencies. Information is collected through key informant interviews or direct observation. This dashboard presents information on a movement which occurred on 13 September 2023 in the town of Ounianga-Kébir, situated in the province of Ennedi Ouest, near the Libyan border.

On September 9th, 2023, a total of 61 Chadian and 1 Nigerian nationals (ten among them are unaccompanied children) were collectively expelled to Libya and arrived in the town of OuniangaKébir on 13 September 2023. Additionally, these individuals reported having spent between 3 months and 3 years in Libyan prison in Koufra before being expelled. It has been noted that, most of the expelled persons come from Abéché, Ati and Amtiman. Therefore, the 62 expelled individuals have not received any assistance and are living in a situation of extreme vulnerability (several of the unaccompanied children are reported ill) and do not have any support to continue their trip towards their communities of origin. As such, they reported urgent needs in food after going several days without eating, medication, as well as transport assistance to their localities of origin.

La DTM a identifié 594 personnes affectées dont 144 personnes déplacées par les vents violents dans les provinces de Bubanza et Muyinga.

This document is a compilation of data collected by IOM from FRONTEX as well as the Italian, Spanish, Greek, and Maltese interior ministries on migratory movements from Africa to Europe between 2017 and 2023**. IOM works closely with a wide range of actors, including government and non-government partners, to collect and compile this data every quarter. This document presents the situation of migrant arrivals in Europe based on data between 2017 and 2023** from the point of view of movements from West and Central Africa (WCA).

** Data for 2023 covers the period up to June 30th, 2023 (January – June 2023). These publications regularly update this data and are available on https://dtm.iom.int/europe/arrivals?type=arrivals and https://missingmigrants.iom.int/. Some data on nationalities are only partially available.

On 6th September 2023, insecurity related violences erupted in the neighborhood of Solino located in the municipality of Port-au-Prince (West District). In addition to loss of life, these attacks have also caused the displacement of approximatively 1 305 individuals (299 households) who mainly took refuge in the municipalities of Delmas (67%) and Port-au-Prince (28%). Most of IDPs (56%) of IDPs took refuge in host families and 44% in 4 spontaneous sites (2 in the municipality of Port-au-Prince and 2 in Delmas).

IOM Pakistan collects data on the outflows of Afghan migrants at the Torkham and Chaman border crossing points to better understand the migration movements of Afghan migrants returning to Afghanistan from Pakistan. Between 16 and 31 August 2023, 3,872 Afghan nationals spontaneously returned to Afghanistan, including 1,340 through the Torkham border point and 2,532 through the Chaman border point. Border authorities facilitated the return of 239 individuals due to the lack of legal documentation to remain in Pakistan. Information about these individuals is not included in the count. Although IOM identified 60,036 Afghan returnees (between 1 January - 31 August 2023) at two border crossings, this may not reflect the total number of Afghan returnees. Moreover, for this study, only the head of household or representative of the family were interviewed. This means that the number of interviews conducted by the enumerators is lower than the number of returnees recorded by IOM. Between 16 and 31 August 2023, IOM interviewed 220 respondents

Armed violence erupted since 12 August 2023 in the neighborhoods of Carrefour-Feuilles and Savanes Pistaches, located in the municipality of Port-au-Prince (West Department) and caused the displacement of thousands of people. Several people fled to relatives in and outside the Metropolitan Area of Port-au-Prince and others took refuge in spontaneous sites. This report presents an update on the number of people hosted in these sites as of 04 September 2023. It should be noted that the security situation remains very volatile in this area, sometimes pushing people to leave sites to seek refuge in others. In some sites where people left, cases of cholera had been reported. People potentially infected with cholera have therefore moved to other sites, increasing the risk of transmission. The follow-up of cholera cases in the sites and preventive measures are crucial at the moment.

في أغسطس 2023، سجلت مصفوفة تتبع النزوح التابعة للمنظمة الدولية للهجرة في اليمن دخول 4,176 مهاجرًا إلى اليمن، بانخفاض قدره 56 بالمائة منذ الشهر الماضي (9,500). وانخفض عدد المهاجرين الذين يدخلون اليمن عبر ساحل لحج (2,249) بنسبة 71 في المائة منذ الشهر الماضي (7,835). ويعود هذا الانخفاض الحاد على الأرجح إلى وجود حملة أمنية مشتركة انطلقت مطلع شهر آب/أغسطس. وتضمنت الحملة مداهمة ممتلكات المهربين واعتقال بعضهم إلى جانب المرشدين الإثيوبيين الذين ساعدوا في نقل المهاجرين من إثيوبيا، فضلاً عن نشر نقاط عسكرية على الشريط الساحلي لملاحقة قوارب المهربين. وفي المقابل، ارتفع عدد المهاجرين الذين دخلوا شبوة بنسبة 16 بالمائة في أغسطس (1,927) مقارنة بشهر يوليو (1,665). ويمكن أن تعزى هذه الزيادة إلى المد البحري وسرعة الرياح الأكثر ملاءمة. وفقًا لمصفوفة تتبع النزوح، شكلت الحركات الناجمة عن النزاع 25% من جميع الحركات الواردة في أغسطس 2023. وقد لوحظت هذه الحركات حصريًا في شبوة، مصدرها باري بالصومال (27% أطفال، 18% نساء، و55% رجال).

أدت الأزمة الإنسانية في اليمن وتحديات الوصول إلى المملكة العربية السعودية إلى عودة العديد من المهاجرين إلى القرن الأفريقي. في أغسطس 2023، سجل فريق مصفوفة تتبع النزوح في جيبوتي 349 مهاجرًا (324 ذكرًا و25 أنثى) انطلقوا في رحلة خطيرة للعودة إلى وطنهم بالقارب من اليمن. بالإضافة إلى ذلك، لاحظت مصفوفة تتبع النزوح انخفاضًا في عدد العائدين اليمنيين (-14%) في أغسطس (3,707) مقارنة بشهر يوليو (4,286). بين يناير وأغسطس 2023، سجلت مصفوفة تتبع النزوح إجمالي 90,806 مهاجرًا و35,071 مهاجرًا يمنيًا عائدًا إلى اليمن. علاوة على ذلك، تلقت مصفوفة تتبع النزوح التابعة للمنظمة الدولية للهجرة تقريرًا عن 60 مهاجرًا إثيوبيًا سافروا من اليمن إلى عمان ولكن تم ترحيلهم إلى اليمن.