The Malian Deportee Association’s History

Our association was created by deported migrants on October 6, 1996, after massive deportations of Malian immigrants throughout the world (including from France, Angola, Saudi Arabia, Liberia, Zambia, etc.). At that time, our compatriots, destitute and humiliated by their ordeal, met at the offices of the High Committee for Malians Abroad (Haut Conseil des Maliens de l’Exterieur, HCME). Ousmane Diarra, deported from Angola, took the initiative to bring them together in order to help them by creating an organization that would respond to their needs. The Malian Deportee Association (Association Malienne des Expulsés, AME) was born: a support organization bringing together several groups and individuals to help deportees through collective action.

One of the first significant actions of the AME was to organizate, in 1997, a protest march in Bamako to liberate 77 Malians deported from France through the “36th Debré Charter” and imprisoned by the Malian government. Two weeks after this march, the imprisoned deportees were freed.

Thanks to the support of Emmaus France, the organization was able to rent a site to welcome deportees and offer them medical care. Some deportees had health problems following hunger strikes, while others had undergone police brutality. We deplore the death of two people that resulted from the lack of funds and access to care.

Since 2006, we have developed parternships with organizations in the North and South that provide care and mobilize for deportee rights, and helped other deportee rights organizations in Mali and West Africa to develop and grow. We also respond to crises in Mali, and during the 2012 conflict and continuing today, we help internally displaced people gain access to healthcare, job training, and temporary lodging.