IOM Works with Yemeni Coastal Community to Aid Migrants from Horn of Africa

GENEVA, Switzerland, February 27, 2015/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- IOM has been working to improve water and sanitation facilities at the Al-Husna Mosque, a local mosque in Basateen, whose Imam offers a temporary safe haven to destitute migrants from the Horn of Africa stranded en route to Saudi Arabia.

Basateen is an impoverished area in southern Yemen, just outside Aden, that hosts thousands of Somali refugees, Ethiopian migrants and Yemeni returnees. It is one of the most underdeveloped parts of Yemen and access to basic services – including food, water, heath care and shelter – are in short supply for both migrants and the local community. An acute lack of water and sanitation infrastructure raises the risk of disease.

To improve conditions for both migrants and the local community, IOM has worked with the Imam, local authorities and community leaders to connect the mosque's sanitation network and those of neighboring houses to Basateen's main sewage system.

It also installed 30 water taps and entirely renovated the mosque's toilet facilities. Another 20 taps were installed in the mosque's absolution area and a shade canopy was built to protect people from the sun. The mosque also serves as a food distribution point that IOM has operated since April 2013. IOM provides destitute migrants with two meals a day. To date, it has distributed over 142,000 meals to over 3,000 beneficiaries.

IOM provides additional assistance to vulnerable cases identified at the mosque, including minors, victims of trafficking, the sick, the elderly and people with disabilities. This includes basic health care services and non-food aid items.

Migrants at risk are also referred to shelters or to another IOM migrant response center in Basateen, where they and other new arrivals are able to receive more comprehensive care.