Sierra Leone’s Ambassador to Senegal H.E Ibrahim Turay on Tuesday 22nd April 2025 during the 3rd Steering Committee meeting to advance migrant protection and reintegration in sub- Sahara Africa (MPRR-SSA) held at the King Fahd Palace hotel in Dakar, made a case for a holden facility for IOM in Senegal.
With support from the EU, the participants came from embassies, government officials and specialists on migration issues.
The MPRR-SSA programme provides protection services in more than 20 countries including remote areas representing the largest protection programme. Under it, about 106,277 migrants have received assistance after their arrival and 92,474,000 individuals have been rendered assistance to reintegrate in their countries of origin.
The Sierra Leone Embassy in Dakar has been regularly dealing with migration and trafficking issues involving its nationals. It was because of such experiences that Ambassador Ibrahim Turay, during the deliberations, made a case for IOM to have a holden facility in Senegal. He said with Senegal becoming one of the destination centers, migrants from Gambia, Guinea Conakry and Sierra Leone normally passes through the country or settles therein. Because of lack of a holden facility, cases brought to the attention of the IOM would take time to process and would leave the migrants in a more vulnerable situation because of lack of shelter as they wait for their cases to be approved.
He also spoke about the issues faced by migrants in Mauritania and the undignified manner in which they were being deported to the Senegalese border town of Rosso.
This MPRR-SSA programme aims to address the pressing challenges encountered by migrant communities, civil society and governments along migration routes and in countries of origin across sub-saharan Africa targeting 16 countries including Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone,Senegal, Somalia and Sudan.
It also provides critical specialized assistance to the most vulnerable groups, such as unaccompanied and separated children and children travelling with their families; migrants subjected to exploitation and violence during their journeys; and human trafficking survivors identified along the routes.
