A total of 841 migrants were registered at MRCs across the region in December, a 3% decrease compared to November. This is the fifth consecutive month that migrant registrations have been declining. In all, the total registrations in 2021 accounted for 10,067 migrants. During this month, the largest number of migrants were registered in Hargeisa (220), followed by Obock (195), Bossaso (174), Moyale (137), Dire Dawa (52), Togochale (52), Metema (8) and Semera (3).
More male adults (62%) were registered in December than female adults (14%), while 24% of registrations were children. More than half of the registered migrants (59%) were between 18 and 29 years old. Child registrations slightly decreased by 2% between November (207) and December (202). Around 21% of registered children were less than five years old. While all the children registered at the MRC in Hargeisa were accompanied, all the children registered in Dire Dawa, Moyale, Semera and Togochale, and most children registered at the MRCs in Bossaso (91%) and Obock (80%) were unaccompanied.
Almost all registered migrants were Ethiopian nationals (99.6%), and the majority reported departing from the Oromia (47%), Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples’ (37%) and Amhara (11%) regions of Ethiopia.
Some migrants were also returning from Yemen, in particular from Aden (7%), Al Bayda (4%), Marib (2%) and Sana’a (1%). Overall, an estimated 37% of registered migrants reported that they intended to continue their journey towards Saudi Arabia. The majority of migrants registered at the MRC in Moyale were heading to South Africa (90%), while the remaining 10% were travelling towards Kenya.
Source: International Organization for Migration