(Dakar, Senegal, 30 April, 2024) - The Mixed Migration Centre (MMC) with the support of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in West Africa (OHCHR-WARO), through its PROMIS migrant rights protection project, published an online report, entitled "Multiple and intersecting harms: Examining use of force in return and its detrimental impact on migrants’ human rights during and after return to Senegal". This report highlights returnees’ experiences of the use of force upon return, paying particular attention to the violations and abuses that often accompany these experiences.

The report is based on 616 quantitative surveys conducted among returnees to Senegal between February and May 2023. It provides an overview of the return migration process, taking into account three key areas: the experience of returnees, human rights violations and the impact on their social reintegration.
According to the report, reasons linked to legal status motivated 65% of returnees to return, while 40% cited living conditions in their country of migration. The report makes an alarming finding: of those who mentioned human rights violations in detention, 94% were witnesses or victims of violations, suffering an average of six violations or abuses per detention. Finally, despite return, economic reintegration remains a major challenge for over 60% of returnees, with stagnation or even regression in several key areas.

As part of this publication, the MMC in collaboration with the OHCHR Regional Office for West Africa, and the United Nations Regional Network for Migration in West and Central Africa is organizing a workshop for a presentation of the report on 16 May, 2024. This presentation will provide an opportunity to discuss the report’s findings, as well as the implications and recommendations for the protection of migrants’ human rights in the presence of relevant stakeholders.

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About the Mixed Migration Centre (MMC) 
The MMC is a leading source of high-quality, independent data, information, research and analysis on mixed migration. By providing evidence and credible expertise, the MMC aims to help agencies, policymakers and practitioners make informed decisions, have a positive impact on global and regional migration policies, contribute to the protection and assistance of people on the move, and stimulate thinking in the mixed migration sector.

About OHCHR-BRAO and the PROMIS project 
The Regional Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR/WARO) is the main United Nations agency responsible for the protection and promotion of human rights in West Africa. The Office is based in Dakar, Senegal since 2008. The PROMIS project is a joint initiative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). The project aims to strengthen the capacity of West African countries to develop a human rights-based response to migrant smuggling and to respond effectively to human rights violations linked to irregular migration.

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Media contacts: 
Habibou Dia, Public Information Officer, OHCHR-BRAO: habibou.dia@un.org
Aicha Loum, Reporting and Communications Officer, OHCHR-BRAO: aicha.loum@un.org

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