From 18-20 July 2017, IOM, the UN Migration Agency, will hold a policy workshop in Zanzibar for government representatives of Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania, on addressing the needs of stranded and vulnerable migrants on the Southern migration route.
The workshop is one of the concluding events in a broader European Union-funded programme, which was carried out in close cooperation with the governments of Ethiopia, Kenya, Morocco, and Yemen, as well as several West African countries. Through this project, IOM assisted 404 Ethiopians stranded in Tanzania, who had asked to return home safely.
Every year, hundreds of Ethiopian youth, mainly young men, are intercepted in Kenya and Tanzania as they try to make their way to South Africa and beyond. They often pay smugglers to take them across the border, putting themselves and their families at risk of exploitation and physical harm.
Participants will share experiences on safe and dignified migration processes, especially return. They will also discuss the protection of vulnerable migrants in the frameworks of ongoing regional initiatives, such as the Khartoum process (which Ethiopia and Kenya are members of) and the European Union Valletta Action Plan, as well as global processes like the Global Compact for Migration.
In a series of capacity-building initiatives, Tanzanian law enforcement officers, community leaders, and representatives of media and non-governmental organizations have so far been sensitized on rights-based and protection-sensitive migration management. In addition, a total of 107 biometric registration equipment kits were given to the Ministry of Home Affairs for the registration of irregular and vulnerable migrants, and distributed to Regional Immigration offices across Tanzania. Registering as a migrant in Tanzania allows migrants to reside in the country without fear of deportation, pending confirmation of their status in the country.
Finally, a series of three regional dialogue meetings organized by IOM in this project have resulted in a much smoother workflow in the referral and assistance mechanisms to help migrants in need.
“We must place migrants and their rights, needs and capacities at the heart of our efforts, and we need to address the relationship of migration to critical adjoining policy domains, including development, humanitarian and peace and security, in a truly comprehensive way,” Johari Masoud Sururu, Commissioner of Immigration Services in Zanzibar, ahead of the policy workshop.
Original source: IOM.
Posted on 17 July. 2017.
