IOM launched a project to build and upgrade two shelters for up to 120 unaccompanied minors and 50 women migrants at Musina on the South African border with Zimbabwe on Friday the 13th of July 2012.

The USD 200,000 project, which is funded by the European Commission and UNDP, will target vulnerable stranded migrants at Musina, located about 20 km from the Zimbabwean border. Musina is the main point of entry into South Africa for Zimbabwean migrants.

Dr. Erick Ventura, the Acting Chief of Mission at IOM South Africa and the Mayor of Musina, Ms Carol Phiri did the soil-turning to mark the beginning of the construction project .

IOM will upgrade accommodation, living and dining areas, build kitchens and install water and sanitation. It will also erect security walls and supply furniture, including beds with mosquito nets.

The new accommodation will improve living conditions for women and unaccompanied minors who have previously endured difficult living conditions. Many of the children have left their families at home or lost contact with them on the journey to the border.

Minors are a particularly vulnerable group because they arrive in a foreign country without their parents. The majority has fled difficult and dramatic living conditions and some have even experienced the loss of family along the way. These children have the right to special protection.

“For a long time unaccompanied minors, abused migrant women, and vulnerable migrants endured humiliating living conditions in Musina. By improving the shelters and offering return assistance to those in need, we can restore some of their dignity and basic human rights,” says IOM’s acting Chief of Mission in South Africa, Erick Ventura.

IOM will also conduct capacity building workshops for shelter staff on shelter management, case management and programme management in order to address capacity constraints of community based and faith based organizations and shelters providing protection assistance to migrants in Musina. Certain categories of migrants require special protection including women, children, and people with disabilities, people living with HIV/AIDS, victims of torture, and victims of trafficking.

Still in Musina, IOM is running an Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration (AVRR) programme aimed at assisting 70 vulnerable Zimbabwean migrants return home.  Musina Hospital provides Pre-Departure Screening for all AVRR beneficiaries.

The project is part of IOM’s broader assistance  aimed at strengthening the capacity and capability of the South African Government, in particular provinces and municipalities, in managing urbanization, in-migration and integration of foreign nationals. Titled “Ubuntu has no Borders”, the project aims to empower South Africans and Foreign Nationals to embrace diversity and peace.

Apart from providing shelter, the IOM office in Musina also provides protection and family tracing assistance to stranded migrants and unaccompanied minors. The office is also actively involved in strengthening the local response to address the health and social needs of migrants.