In Ivory Coast, would-be migrants who return home are known locally as "the cursed". With their dream of a better life abroad in tatters, they also face stigma and rejection from their families and communities. Yassin Ciyow and Guillaume Collanges went to meet them.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) describes former migrants who have returned home as "returnees". In Ivory Coast, they're known as "the cursed". In the economic capital Abidjan and other major Ivorian cities, tens of thousands keep a low profile, consumed by shame. Some lived in Europe for a few years, some survived in North Africa before attempting to cross the Mediterranean, while others found themselves stranded in the Sahara desert at the start of their journey. All of them fled their country and experienced hell. All of them returned, unable to fulfil their dream of a better life elsewhere.
