The United Nations (UN) has reiterated its call for collaborative efforts to effectively tackle migrant rights violations across the West African sub-region.
Adwoa Kufuor-Owusu, Senior Human Rights Adviser, Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) reiterated the call in Abuja on Monday at a two-day training for Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) titled: “Human rights-based response to smuggling of migrants and related crimes.”
The training, which ends on Tuesday, Sept. 26, was organised by the UN in Nigeria to strengthen the capacities of civil societies to focus on the human rights-aspect of migration.
Kufuor-Owusu decried the violation of migrants’ rights and other related abuses, saying they were of global concern.
She described migration as a complex and multifaceted issue that has been harmful to the lives of countless individuals and communities across the world.
“Not only in Nigeria, it has the power to transform societies, economies, and most importantly, individual lives.
“Migration is often accompanied by challenges, which can lead to violation of the rights of migrants, if not managed properly and safeguarded.
“So, in order to do this very safeguarding, management of the vulnerability that might arise in the context of migration, there are various legal frameworks which have been established at the international, regional, and national levels,” she said.
Speaking during the training, Mr Tony Ojukwu (SAN), the Executive-Secretary of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) emphasised the need for government and civil society groups to work closely to tackle migration issues.
Ojukwu, represented by Mr Hilary Ogbonna, Senior Human Rights Adviser of NHRC, said that migration, whether regular or irregular, “does not just happen.”
“It (happens) because people want to exercise their fundamental human rights to freedom of movement or right to association.
“As a commission, we believe migratory activities or human rights are significant for all the actors involved in it.
“For government and CSOs, we all need to work closely together to be able to protect human rights to ensure every person that has reason to migrate or return is protected under national and international principles of human rights,” he said.
Also speaking, Aishat Braimah, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Officer in charge of the Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants Programme, identified some causes of irregular migration.
“People who are trying to flee persecution, conflicts or natural disaster in their home state, find themselves wanting to migrate through irregular means.
“In terms of mitigating risks of migration, it is important we work in a holistic way – the reason this training workshop was put together – to bring stakeholders together to solidify the approach to the issues,” Braimah said.
Some CSO participants who spoke in separate interviews called for relevant awareness creation against violation of migrants, to achieve meaningful progress.
Agu Joy, representative of Augustina Centre for Justice Advocacy and Peace underscored the need for people to know “there is a human rights approach to migration.”
“Most people are not aware of it. So, it is important that such issues are brought to light through enlightenment,” she said.
Similarly, Isaac Justina, a representative of the Network on Migration and Development said, “This training workshop is timely as issues about migration happen on the borders of most West African countries.
“This training will help us as CSOs to make informed policies in our programmes and to see how this issue can be curtailed.”
