Migration Response Centres (MRCs) East and Horn of Africa (1 January - 31 August 2021)
REGIONAL OVERVIEW: AUGUST 2021
A total of 1,101 migrants were registered at MRCs across the region in August, a 9% decrease compared to July. This brings the total registrations in 2021 to 6,656 migrants. The largest number of migrants were registered in Moyale (314), followed by Hargeisa (221), Bossaso (220), Metema (188), Togochale (88), Obock (50), Semera (12), and Dire Dawa (8).
More male adults (58%) were registered in August than female adults (21%), while 22% of registrations were children. More than half of the registered migrants (66%) were between 18 and 29 years old. Child registrations slightly increased by 8% between July (227) and August (238). Most registered children were either between 15 and 17 years old (37%) or between 6 and 14 years old (37%). While all the children registered at the MRC in Hargeisa and over half of the children registered at the MRC in Metema (52%) were accompanied, all the children registered in Bossaso, Dire Dawa, Semera and Togochale, as well as most children registered in Obock (77%) were unaccompanied.
Almost all registered migrants were Ethiopian nationals (97%), and the majority reported departing from the Oromia (41%), Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' (41%), Amhara (8%) and Somali (3%) regions of Ethiopia. Some migrants were also returning from Yemen, in particular from Aden (2%), Amran (2%) and Marib (1%). About 20% of the registered migrants reported that they intended to continue their journey to Saudi Arabia, while 12% of migrants were heading to another Gulf country. Of those registered at the MRC in Moyale, 99% were heading to South Africa. Overall, most migrants reported migrating for economic reasons (73%).