Africa-Press – Ethiopia. The IGAD member states are urged to harmonize policies to address the issue of migration with a view to ensuring safe, orderly, and well-managed migration in the region.
IGAD Health and Social Development Division Director Fathia Alwan told ENA on the sidelines of the validation workshop on the revised Migration Action Plan (MAP) 2024–2028.
The IGAD action plan considers the changing migration dynamics within the region by incorporating new strategies and approaches to protect the wellbeing of migrants and refugees throughout their journey.
The director said IGAD has brought all members together to revise the policy on migration, which aligns with the AU and the broader global compact on migration.
East Africa is a region of migrants because most of our member states are countries of origin, destination, and transition, she noted.
“We have been at the forefront in bringing member states together because migration is not the issue of one country. We want to see how our member states can actually work together, harmonize policies, and also address the issue of migration together.”
Sudan IGAD Focal Person Ambassador Elhafiz Eisa said on his part that East Africa is one of the most important regions on the continent of Africa.
Most of the migrants travel from our region, and there are lots of reasons behind their migration. Those could be problems in their countries, such as natural disasters like floods, lack of rain, and war.
And when they discover that most of the countries in the region are almost the same, the migrants prefer to go to Europe through the Mediterranean, and they lose their lives, he added.
“For this reason, we need to join our hands to protect them as member states with the concerned department to facilitate their migration from the country of origin through the country of transit until they reach the country of their last destination. To do this, we need to exert effort sincerely with the concerned department.”
Rahab Mwangi, from Kenya Foreign Service, said on her part that Kenya has been working together with Ethiopia on migration.
She recalled the recently inaugurated Moyale Cross-Border Development Facilitation Office, which allows the two countries to exchange expertise.
“It is an issue that requires intergovernmental organizations or our neighbors to work together in cooperation. We continue to support the mechanisms that exist through IGAD and UNHCR, and we continue to work hand in hand with those agencies to keep supporting them.”
Mwangi added that Kenya also hopes that we can work on mechanisms in terms of security and work together with our neighboring countries as a host nation to enforce existing security mechanisms and continue to support migration.
Somali Immigration Legal Advisor, Abdinasir Hashijimale, said there is a lot of movement related to people who move for different purposes in terms of disaster and climate change, whether they are refugees internally or externally.
IGAD is taking an important role in managing these issues in different capacities, he noted.
“Human trafficking and smuggling are also huge in the region. Now, in Somalia, we have sent to the Convention on Transnational Organized Crime (TOC) the council of ministers in order to rectify the legislation so that we will establish and formulate a law.”
For More News And Analysis About Ethiopia Follow Africa-Press
