IOM assists hundreds of returning migrants in COVID-19 quarantine sites

Ethiopia continues to receive thousands of migrants returned from countries across the region and the Middle East, in response to the COVID-19 global health pandemic. IOM, the International Organization for Migration, is assisting more than 9,400 migrants in the country’s quarantine facilities. Migrants have been sent back to Ethiopia from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Djibouti, Somalia, Sudan, and other countries over the last few weeks.
IOM is supporting the Government of Ethiopia to ensure returning migrants receive medical care, food, shelter and other assistance during quarantine and after, including helping them return to their villages. There are 124 COVID-19 positive cases in Ethiopia and three have died from the disease. There are fears that, were the disease to spread, the public health system could not cope with a major outbreak.
On Thursday (23 April), Ethiopia’s Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, Ergogie Tesfaye, joined IOM’s Chief of Mission to Ethiopia Maureen Achieng, on a visit to one of the quarantine centres, Addis Ababa University’s Sidist Kilo campus, operated by the Government of Ethiopia.