Thousands of Africans returned home through an EU program. Many say they've been abandoned

CONAKRY, Guinea -- When Oumar Bella Diallo boarded a level location to the West African federation of Guinea successful July, the weary 24-year-old thought his migration ordeal was over.

He had spent astir a twelvemonth trying to scope Europe. He said helium was attacked by constabulary and scammed for wealth arsenic helium crossed Mali, Algeria and Niger, astatine 1 constituent limping past corpses successful the desert. After seeing chap migrants dice from hunger and exhaustion, helium gave up.

He is among tens of thousands of Africans returning location with the assistance of the International Organization for Migration, as Europe spends millions of dollars to deter migrants earlier they scope its shores. The European Union-funded IOM programme pays for instrumentality flights and promises follow-up assistance.

But migrants archer The Associated Press that promises by the United Nations-affiliated enactment are not fulfilled, leaving them to look trauma, indebtedness and household shame connected their own. Desperation could substance caller migration attempts.

The AP spoke to 3 returnees successful Gambia and 4 successful Guinea, and was shown a WhatsApp radical of implicit 50 members founded astir returnees' vexation with the IOM. They described months of reaching retired to the IOM with nary reply.

Diallo said helium told the IOM helium wanted to commencement a tiny business. But each helium has received is simply a telephone fig for an IOM counsellor and a five-day predisposition people connected accountability, absorption and idiosyncratic development. He said galore returnees had occupation grasping it due to the fact that of debased acquisition levels.

“Even yesterday, I called him,” Diallo said. “They said for the moment, we person to hold until they telephone us. Every time, if I telephone them, that’s what they archer me." He said helium asked for aesculapian assistance with a ft injured connected his migration effort but was told it was impossible.

As the oldest kid of a azygous mother, the work for supporting relatives weighs heavily.

“If there’s not truthful overmuch money, you’re the caput of the household too,” helium said.

The IOM programme is financed astir wholly by the EU and was launched successful 2016. Between 2022 and 2025, it repatriated implicit 100,000 sub-Saharan migrants from northbound Africa and Niger.

Of the $380 cardinal fund for that period, 58% is allocated for post-return assistance, the IOM said.

Francois Xavier Ada with the IOM determination bureau successful West Africa told the AP that implicit 90,000 returnees person started, and 60,000 completed, the reintegration process “tailored to idiosyncratic needs." Ada said that tin “support thing from housing, aesculapian assistance oregon psychosocial services to concern grants, vocational trainings and occupation placement.”

Migrants told the AP they had not received immoderate of those.

Ada said the IOM was ”concerned" to larn of radical kept waiting and “happy to look into these cases.” He added that delays tin hap owed to precocious caseloads oregon incomplete documentation, and aesculapian assistance is not guaranteed.

Experts said determination is small penetration into however the EU wealth helps returnees. The European Court of Auditors, an EU body, audited the program's archetypal signifier betwixt 2016 and 2021 and said it failed to show sustainable reintegration results, monitoring was “insufficient to beryllium results” and the EU “could not beryllium worth for money.”

“The EU argumentation is obsessed with returns,” said Josephine Liebl with the Brussels-based European Council connected Refugees and Exiles. “The question of however this enactment really helps radical successful precise susceptible situations receives precise small nationalist scrutiny, which is owed to the information that determination is specified a deficiency of transparency and accountability of however EU backing works extracurricular the EU.”

The EU did not respond to questions connected the details of the fund beyond repeating IOM statements.

Moustapha Darboe, a Gambian writer who interviewed implicit 50 returnees for an probe into the IOM program, said they had to hold a agelong time, often astir a year, and enactment they yet received did not lucifer their skills and ambitions.

“The IOM is donor-based,” helium told the AP. “Their superior absorption is not to assistance these people, their superior absorption is to tick their box.”

The IOM programme has coincided with Europe's other efforts to deter migration, including paying immoderate African governments to intercept migrants, an attack denounced by quality rights groups that impeach African authorities of being complicit successful abuses.

Europe's efforts look to beryllium working. In the archetypal 8 months of 2025, it recorded 112,000 “irregular” crossings, implicit 20% little than the aforesaid play past year, and a driblet of implicit 50% from 2 years ago.

Experts accidental that portion the IOM's instrumentality programme helps to extract radical from inhumane treatment, the promised follow-up enactment is often intolerable to present arsenic astir migrants' location countries person poorly functioning authorities services.

"The large missing portion is the enactment for the returnees to get reintegrated, person entree to societal extortion and to labour markets,” said Camille Le Coz, manager of the Brussels-based Migration Policy Institute.

Kabinet Kante, a 20-year-old from Guinea who dreamed of being a footballer successful Germany, spent astir 2 years trying to scope Europe. He said helium was intercepted astatine oversea and dumped successful the desert, and inactive wakes astatine nighttime screaming.

He returned to Guinea successful July with the IOM's help. He said helium wanted to larn however to thrust a bulldozer but the IOM has ignored his calls, and erstwhile helium went to their office, they told him to halt calling.

He acceptable up the WhatsApp radical for implicit 50 different returned and frustrated migrants. He besides records TikTok videos informing against the treacherous way to Europe.

But helium has nary mode to wage backmost his parents, who supported his travel by sending wealth to wage smugglers and bribe officials.

“Right now, I americium doing nothing,” helium said, caput bowed with embarrassment.

Like galore sub-Saharan African countries, Guinea has affluent earthy resources, including the world's largest robust ore deposits. But experts accidental atrocious governance and exploitation by overseas companies person near astir of the colonisation destitute.

Over fractional of Guinea’s colonisation of 15 cardinal is experiencing “unprecedented levels of poverty,” according to the World Food Program, and cannot work oregon write. The authoritative monthly minimum wage is little than $65. Most radical enactment successful the informal system and gain adjacent less.

“Those with degrees enactment arsenic taxi drivers here,” Diallo said. “If determination were, similar elsewhere, occupation opportunities successful the country, everyone would enactment here.”

Diallo and Kante said they are not readying connected “going connected an adventure” immoderate clip soon — a word utilized wide to picture the migration way to Europe.

But that's mostly due to the fact that they don’t person money. They imagination of moving successful Europe legally, but the visa process tin outgo hundreds of dollars, and applicants from sub-Saharan countries person a precocious rejection rate.

Elhadj Mohamed Diallo, manager of the Guinean Organization for the Fight Against Irregular Migration, is simply a erstwhile migrant who reached Libya earlier turning back. He present works with the IOM connected reintegration activities but indicated uncertainty astir their quality to forestall returnees from migrating again.

He said helium doesn’t blasted them arsenic beingness astatine location becomes much difficult.

“We aren’t helping them truthful that they tin stay. We are helping them truthful they tin instrumentality power of their lives again," helium said. "Migration is simply a earthy thing. Blocking a idiosyncratic is similar blocking the tide. When you artifact water, the h2o volition find its way.”

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