Welcoming, helping, and orienting deportees

Most of the time, deportees arrive the airport penniless and without having been able to contact their family. Thanks to the contact we establish with them from their arrival, we can, in an environment of trust, collect their testimonies that establish their experience of physical and psychological mistreatment. We are also developing legal assistance so that they can recover the property they have been forced to leave behind in the deporting country. This legal assistance will also help them claim their rights, which have sometimes been violated because of “irregularities” that should have made their deportation impossible (for example, having been married in the deporting country, an employment offer, etc.).
We also are developing group therapies and psychological care with licensed psychologists, and we are developing family awareness programs. Many deportees are not welcomed by their families and seen as failures, so we are making inroads to help them reintegrate into Malian society after the traumatic experience of deportation.

Awareness and Mobilization

Thanks to the mobilization of an active support group, we have carried out an awareness building campaign in Malian civil society in regards to the problem of deportations. Our links with Northern associations and organizations have been reinforced through our common experiences.
The main unions (UNTM and CSTM) have been informed of our activities. Also, human rights organizations have been solicited. We have carried out many letter writing campaigns to consulates of the concerned countries in order to meet the consular authorities and make our claims regarding the deportees (including France, Italy, Spain, Saudi Arabia, Mauritania, Morocco, Libya, etc.).
We also have organized press conferences and debates. Our first press conference took place on March 26, 2006, and had significant echoes in the Malian press. We then continued with several radio and print press releases.

Collecting Testimonies

In parallel to the mobilization and thanks to it, many deportees now come directly to us. We have been collecting their testimonies and analyzing them. These contribute to helping us defend their legal rights in court, as well as aid us in adapting our services to best fit their needs.