"Mali - On Tuesday (1/12) IOM, in collaboration with the Libyan and Malian authorities, helped 170 stranded Malian migrants, including 20 women and 150 men, to return home from the Libyan capital, Tripoli. On arrival in the Malian capital Bamako, the migrants were welcomed home by government officials including representatives of the Ministry of Malians Abroad, the Ministry of Interior and Civilian Protection, and the Ministry of Solidarity, Humanitarian Action and Reconstruction of the North. The migrants, part of a group of 460 Malians waiting to return home from Libya, were transferred from the airport to a civilian protection reception center in Bamako, where they were registered, vaccinated and provided with food, health and shelter for a night. IOM provided each migrant with the equivalent of EUR 50 for onward travel to their places of origin. Of the 170, 38 came from Kayes, 37 from Bamako, 28 from Koulikoro, 24 from Gao, 17 from Timbuktu, 13 from Sikasso, 10 from Segou and three from Mopti.

For more information please contact Aminta Dicko at IOM Mali, Tel: +223 90 50 00 07, Email: adicko@iom.int "