Mali — Flow Monitoring Report 2 (July 2016)

The IOM Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) has started tracking the movement of irregular migrants planning to travel to Europe in Northern Mali. Most migrants come from countries in sub-Saharan countries, and West Africa in particular. Most of the migrants are believed to travel through the capital city, Bamako, to the strategically located town of Gao, before heading towards Algeria, Niger or Libya to reach their final destination, Europe. Gao is an important transit point and is often preferred by many irregular migrants due to the relatively easy access of its routes to the Mediterranean. In this data collection round, 97 % of migrants were men, and 12% of migrants were minors. 1,404 migrants arrived in Gao, while 1,369 migrants departed from Gao. 49 % expressed the wish to go to Europe, primarily Spain and Italy. Almost all migrants departing from Gao transit through Algeria. The large majority of migrants leave Mali by truck. the vast majority of irregular migrants were nationals of Guinea (57.9%), Mali (22.5%) and Gambia (12.4%).