IOM Report Offers Insight into Plight and Delight of Migrants

A new report released on Wednesday in Kenya by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has revealed the plight of migrants in their countries of destination. According to the 2013 World Migration Report (WMR 2013), people who migrate to the south (low/middle income countries, such as, Third World Countries) feel that their lives are worse off or similar to those of their counterparts in their countries of origin.

The report draws upon the findings of the Gallup World Poll data collected from 25,000 first generation migrants and over 440,000 natives from over 150 countries between 2009 and 2011. Generally, it shows that those who migrate to the North—these are high-income countries like the United States or the European Union— think that they are faring better than their counterparts back home in terms of financial, career, subjective, social, community and physical well-being. These include South-North and North-North migrants. This is the opposite for migrants in the south.

However, the WMR 2013 reveals that overall financial situation of migrants is not as good as that of the natives of their countries of destination. According to the report, North-North migrants are less likely to be experiencing problems in meeting their basic needs unlike South-North migrants.

Speaking at the launch of the report at the Southern Sun Hotel in Nairobi, Deputy Director for Immigration Services Joseph Munyoki said that the report highlighted the need for stakeholders to rethink about migration. “This report highlights the need for a rethink of migration. It is an important resource for the government to implement the implementable within Kenya,” Munyoki said.

Mr. J.P. Munyoki from Immigration Services, shares a light moment with, IOM Regional Director, Mr. Ashraf El Nour during the official launch of the World Migration Report 2013 at the Southern Sun Hotel, Nairobi on Wednesday. 

Munyoki, who was representing the Cabinet Secretary for Interior and Coordination Joseph Ole Lenku at the function, also announced that the government was working on a national migration policy with the assistance of IOM.

At the same launch, IOM Regional Director, Mr. Ashraf El Nour announced a new initiative by the organisation aimed at migration profiling in Kenya. “We are soon rolling out a new initiative that will concern migration profiling in Kenya. Migration profiling is important because Kenya is a central point for migrants moving to the Southern region of Africa,” Mr. El Nour stated. The initiative is expected to improve the country’s capacity for evidence-based policy making.

The WMR 2013 was originally released on 13 September 2013 in Geneva, Switzerland where IOM’s headquarters are situated. It is the 7^th report in a series that began in 2007; it focuses on migrants as individuals and their well-being.

Its release comes ahead of the United Nations High Level Dialogue (HLD) on international migration and development to be held in New York from 3-4 October this year. The meeting will provide a good opportunity for the international community to align migration and development policies.

Also present at the function were the Deputy Commissioner for Labour Joseph Yilda, Labour Export Officer from the Youth Enterprise Development Fund Chrispine Wanyahoro and several diplomatic corps among others.

The full report can be downloaded here

Read More

New BBC Investigative Report Unearths Immigrant Rights Violations in Morocco

A new investigative report by BBC’s economic editor Paul Mason has unearthed the human rights violations that illegal immigrants in Morocco undergo at the hands of security authorities. It implicates the police and criminal gangs in violations ranging from physical violence, exploitation and sexual violence.

The documentary—which can be viewed here— was aired on Wednesday 4th September and features interviews with several migrants who are stuck in Morocco after being denied entrance into Europe. One of the interviewees, a Cameroonian only identified as Amadou, narrated his ordeal after he was caught along with others trying to scale the border fence at Melilla—a Spanish border town—into Spain. “They landed with a helicopter and started hurling stones at us; beating us with batons,” he explains.

Amadou and his friends were then deported to Algeria—an act, which was in contravention of the 1951 Geneva Convention that prohibits the deportation of people to countries where there is no guarantee of their safety as well as without considering their individual cases.

Another interviewee, a Gambian called Ibrahim, recounted to Mason how the Spanish coastguard handed him over to their Moroccan counterparts who subjected him to physical assault. “The 35 of us were handed over to Moroccan cops who beat us with batons before taking us to Oujda, across the border with Algeria,” he narrates. Now stuck in Morocco, Ibrahim depends on a nearby mosque for food.

Things are looking up: Illegal immigrants resting after arriving at Spain's Canary Island of Tenerife. Many more have had their journey into Europe cut short by Moroccan and Spanish authorities (Image courtesy of www.boston.com)

The investigative trip also brought Mason into contact with Mustapha and Josui, two Senegalese bricklayers who tried to gain entry into Spain, having transited through Algeria, Mali and Niger. “We tried to jump over the border fence into Melillia but the Spanish police arrested us,” they narrated.

Having made it into Spanish territory, they expected to be allowed to claim asylum but instead, they were turned over to the Moroccan authorities. “They beat us everywhere while handcuffed behind our backs and even shot at us,” Mustapha explains.

Mason’s investigative report also lays blame on the European Union (EU), which has provided Morocco with €1.6 billion to deter illegal immigrants from its territory. The financial support is part of its ‘Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy’ that aims to improve the capacity of the North African kingdom in handling migration issues, such as, border management. Morocco is a major source of migration into Europe with the city of Tangier being a chief transit route.

A report by Médecins Sans Frontiéres (MSF), titled Violence, Vulnerability and Migration: Trapped at the Gates of Europe documents the increasing incidences of degrading treatment, violence and abuse of migrants in Morocco. The report also reveals the high levels of sexual violence against the Sub-Saharan migrant community in the country.

The Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs has, however, reiterated that it adheres to the human rights of all immigrants while implementing its readmission procedures and border management. It states that the kingdom has become a country of destination for Sub-Saharan African migrants because of its joint border control efforts with European countries.

What are your thoughts? Is Morocco right to cooperate with EU in stopping illegal immigrants from entering Europe through it?

---

Read More