In February 2022, 15,242 movements were observed at the Flow Monitoring Points (FMPs) in Djibouti, representing a daily average of 544 movements. Migration flows increased by 20 per cent compared to the month of January 2022, during which an average of 454 movements had been registered daily. It is worth highlighting that migration flows have not yet reached preCOVID-19 levels (between March 2019 and March 2020, the daily average was 621).
Of these 15,242 movements, 2,487 (16%) were observed in Obock. This coastal region of Djibouti is the main gateway for migrants going to and returning from the Arabian Peninsula. Migrants regroup at congregation points in the Obock region where they then cross the Gulf of Aden on boats along what is known as the Eastern route.
From January to June 2020, the number of entries observed from Djibouti’s western borders decreased by 99 per cent due to the closure of Ethiopian borders. Since Djibouti and Ethiopia resumed land services in July 2020, the number of entries from Ethiopia has incresed sharply. They went from 1,307 movements in July 2020 to 8,866 in February 2022. In addition, 11,589 Ethiopian nationals have returned from Yemen since January 2021. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, these movements were mainly due to mobility restrictions imposed in Yemen and Saudi Arabia. Subsequently, the progressive deterioration of living conditions in Yemen also triggered growing numbers of spontaneous returns. Following a steady decrease in returns from Yemen observed since August 2021 due to several concurrent factors, this figure more than doubled between December 2021 (178) and January 2022 (452) and reached 590 in February 2022.
Source: International Organization for Migration