Bafatá – Bafata, in Eastern Guinea-Bissau is one of the regions with the highest rates of return of migrants in the country. Out of the 626 Bissau-Guineans stranded in Libya or Niger who voluntarily returned home with IOM’s support since 2017, 118 of them were from Bafatá, Guinea-Bissau’s second largest city located in the East of the country.

Last week (30/01), IOM inaugurated a new community production unit to help returned migrants rebuild their lives in the region. The unit includes facilities for agricultural and poultry production, as well as for cooking oil processing.

20 returned migrants and 5 members of the Bambadinca community will work in the community unit, which was developed in partnership with ASAS de Socorro, a cooperative supporting the development of poultry and agriculture farming in Guinea-Bissau. The project will boost the production of various goods in the region, while creating sustainable jobs for returned migrants and youths in the community. 

“Community-based projects such as the production unit contribute to the sustainable reintegration of returnees by encouraging the creation of social networks between them and their communities, thus reducing any form of resentment community members may feel”, said Laura Amadori, IOM Guinea-Bissau Head of Office.

The community unit is one of more than 80 projects implemented by returned migrants in Guinea-Bissau with the support of IOM through the EU-IOM Joint Initiative for Migrant Protection and Reintegration. Launched in December 2016 with funding from the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF), the EU-IOM Joint Initiative for Migrant Protection and Reintegration is the first comprehensive programme to save lives, protect and assist migrants along key migration routes in Africa. In Guinea-Bissau, it is implemented through multiple pillars including migrant assistance, protection, reintegration and awareness raising.

For more information, contact: Sandro Tavares Moreira Tel: (+245) 955 393 551, E-mail: stmoreira@iom.int or visit www.migrationjointinitiative.org.