Dakar (ICRC) – With the support of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and in agreement with the regional authorities, the Mali Red Cross has launched a project to aid migrants in distress who, after attempting in vain to migrate further north, end up in the northern Mali border town of Tin Zaouatène on their way home.

Nearly a thousand migrants from various West African countries pass through Tin Zaouatène every month.

The small, remote town is situated in the desert, in the northernmost part of Mali on the border with Algeria, over 600 km from Gao and 1,800 km from Bamako.

As soon as migrants arrive in Tin Zaouatène, they are taken care of by the Mali Red Cross, which gives them meals, helps find accommodation and provides basic medical attention.

The most vulnerable among them will be taken to Gao, if they so desire, via Kidal, where they will have the possibility to call their families.

In Gao, they are placed in the care of a reception facility run by associations representing migrants.

"The migrants come up against various problems that make them very vulnerable," said Sylvain Corderoy, the head of the ICRC office in Gao.

"Most have suffered a lot, physically and mentally, and some are stranded here without the resources needed for survival." This project reflects the determination of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement to provide impartial humanitarian services to migrants in need, regardless of their status.

The ICRC, which is active in northern Mali, an area beset by violence, is contributing its expertise in restoring family links.

The project is part of a series of initiatives taken by the ICRC and the Mali Red Cross to bring aid to vulnerable people in the north of the country.

Last month, for example, the ICRC and the Mali Red Cross gave food aid to 450 families in the Abeïbara area of Kidal who had fled their homes during armed clashes in 2008 but later returned.

Over 12,000 people have received emergency aid in northern Mali over the past 18 months.


For further information, please contact:
Attaher Maïga ou Sylvain Corderoy, ICRC Gao, tel: +223 66 75 26 18 or +223 66 75 26 19
Wolde-Gabriel Saugeron, ICRC Dakar, tel: +221 77 529 71 45
Marçal Izard, ICRC Geneva, tel: +41 22 730 2458 or +41 79 217 3224


See also ICRC media contacts

This article on www.icrc.org