Stakeholders convene to advance support and inclusion for Rodriguan migrants in Mauritius

A Stakeholder Introductory and Consultation Meeting on Internal Migration between Rodrigues and Mauritius was organised by the Citizen Support Unit (CSU), operating under the aegis of the Prime Minister's Office, this afternoon at the Youth Hub in Cité La Cure, as part of the initiative to enhance support, empowerment, and inclusion for Rodriguan migrants residing in Mauritius.

The initiative follows the publication, in 2025, of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) report entitled ‘Internal Migration between the Islands of Rodrigues and Mauritius: Drivers, Challenges and Opportunities for Support’. The document identifies several social, economic and community-related challenges affecting Rodriguan migrants residing in Mauritius and proposes a series of recommendations to address them.

The challenges include housing difficulties, financial insecurity, lack of information and preparedness, family and psychosocial stress, gender-based vulnerabilities, as well as exclusion and stigmatisation. The IOM proposes four streams of actions to remedy the situation. These comprise: empower migrants and their families, provide safe and affordable housing, mainstream mobility into employment and training schemes, and strengthen institutional capacity through training, coordination and data.

Representatives of the Rodriguan communities living in Mauritius, Ministries, Departments, Local Authorities, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the civil society were thus apprised of the findings and recommendations of the IOM report during the meeting. The proposed intervention framework, namely the Rodriguan Internal Migrants Empowerment and Support Programme – Building on the Findings of the IOM Report and the Voices of Rodriguan Communities in Mauritius, was also introduced. Participants were then invited to initiate discussions on the relevant collaborative implementation mechanisms.

The Rodriguan Internal Migrants Empowerment and Support Programme seeks to transform the findings of the IOM report into practical and sustainable actions through a participatory community development approach involving all stakeholders. It moves beyond awareness and sensitisation activities by promoting community participation, ownership and practical action through the development of SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound) initiatives and sustainable solutions informed both by the recommendations of the IOM report and by the lived experiences and priorities expressed by Rodriguan migrants themselves.

The programme is based on two complementary components. The first one purports to the establishment of a Migrant Resource Centre in Rodrigues by the Rodrigues Regional Assembly (RRA), together with Internal Migration Resource Centres within selected Citizens Advice Bureaux (CABs) in Mauritius to provide guidance, support, referrals and empowerment services to migrants and their families. The second element relates to the implementation of a tailored Community Development Programme (CDP) aimed at enabling communities to identify, prioritise and address the challenges affecting them through concrete actions and collaborative initiatives.

The pilot phase will be implemented within Cluster 1 which groups together several localities in the regions of Cité La Cure, Sainte Croix and Roche Bois, where many Rodriguan migrants are living. The cluster approach is intended to facilitate community mobilisation, inter-agency coordination and the implementation of joint actions at regional level.

The next phase of the programme will be the holding of a Participatory Community Workshop on 19 June 2026. The event will bring together Rodriguan community leaders, residents, NGOs and institutional stakeholders to discuss the findings of the IOM report, identify and prioritise challenges, and jointly formulate SMART actions and a local action plan.

09 June 2026

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Topics: Rodrigues