Djibouti has announced plans to begin deporting foreign nationals who are illegally residing in the country, urging them to leave by the end of April.
The government cited security and health concerns as the driving force behind this decision.
The Horn of Africa nation, a critical transit point for migrants, has long been a hub for those attempting perilous journeys across the Red Sea to the Gulf.
Many migrants, often fleeing poverty and conflict, seek to reach wealthier countries like Saudi Arabia for work in construction or domestic labor.
However, the journey is fraught with danger, with at least 558 migrants perishing in 2024 alone, according to the United Nations.
Alexis Mohamed, an advisor to President Ismael Omar Guelleh, emphasized that Djibouti could not continue to shoulder the burden of global poverty.
“We cannot accommodate all the world’s poverty,” he said in an interview with AFP.
Djibouti, with a population of roughly one million, lies just 26 kilometers from Yemen across the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, a key route for migration.
Each year, thousands of migrants, particularly from neighboring Ethiopia, risk their lives in search of a better future.
The government has not disclosed the number of migrants affected by the deportation order.
However, it is clear that the policy will reshape the migration landscape in this small yet strategically vital country.