The Malian case

In mid-2019, the Government of Angola initiated an expulsion exercise targeting migrants working in the mining sector, including many migrants from Mali. Many of them were unable to afford the airplane tickets to return home, as they were quite expensive – about USD 2,000 each. Often, the migrants affected were families. Some families used all of the resources at their disposal to pay for one ticket home for the man, so that he could work and raise funds to then pay for tickets home for their wives and children. 

However, once on their own, many of the women became vulnerable to forced labour and sexual exploitation. Some of them had no choice but to resort to putting their children on the street to work and beg.  Many faced homelessness or relied on members of the community to give them shelter in their homes – which some community members took advantage of to force the migrants into exploitative labour. The IOM GAF was able to provide equitable access to assistance for the entire Malian caseload by meeting the assistance and protection needs of both men and women. All were provided with items to face their immediate needs, the ones who needed received medical assistance, and GAF supported the voluntary return of dozens of Malians.