Djibouti is taking a tough line on “illegally present” foreigners, setting a deadline of the end of April 2025 for them to depart from the country. The policy, announced on Wednesday, April 23rd, leaves illegal migrants with a week to make arrangements or face forcible removal.
Located in the Horn of Africa, the state is often used by people attempting to cross the Red Sea in order to work in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) petrodollar economies. The crossing itself is particularly dangerous, with UN statistics for 2024 estimating that around 560 people died while attempting it, typically in unsuitable boats.
Having “invited those illegally present in our country to leave,” Alexis Mohamed—advisor to President Ismael Omar Guelleh—said the decision “responds primarily to security and health concerns.”
Djibouti faces a combination of GCC-focused economic migration and refugees fleeing the catastrophic conditions in such neighbours as Ethiopia, Somalia and Yemen.
