InfoMigrants

ended

At the height of the migration crisis in 2015, France Médias Monde and Deutsche Welle wondered what they could do as international media. They quickly came to the conclusion: provide information. ANSA joined them and with the help of DG Home, the consortium was able to quickly develop the project InfoMigrants (IM), which was launched in spring 2017. IM is built on 1 fact: migration is a decision often based on false expectations and/or erroneous information. Even before they leave their homes, potential migrants in their home countries are exposed to a proliferation of unverified and unreliable sources of information circulating especially on social media. Studies on this matter show that they are highly dependent on their smartphones and received most of their information from smugglers who seek to mislead and manipulate them. In order to counter misconceptions about the risks along the migration route and the quality of life abroad, IMs’ aim is to provide to potential migrants and asylum-seekers in their countries of origin, in transit and even already in Europe with reliable, verified and objective information about, by and for them as well as about the countries they have left, the countries they travel through and the countries where they hope to start a new life. This tailor-made journalistic content is available in French, Arabic, English, Dari, Pashto and Bengali, on multiple, free and accessible worldwide platforms and social networks (website, YouTube, Soundcloud, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Viber, Telegram, Free Basics). These tools will continue to be used as a participatory space of dialogue where our target groups can share their experiences and raise their voices, thus making migration real. Since its launch, the audience of IM has been growing year after year, reaching 86.3M people in 2021. These results are monitored by independent evaluation bodies: Open University (2017-2019), Maastricht University (2020-2021) and Pluricité (2022).