EIOM Calls For Border Security Plans Over Migration From Africa

Saturday, November 02, 2013

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The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has warned migration from Africa into the Middle East, Europe and the U.S. cannot be stopped but can be managed effectively.

IOM Regional Director Ashraf El Nour said with 58,000 migrants from the Horn of Africa arriving on the shores of Yemen from between January and September before crossing into Italy and Malta, the criminalization of migration across the region might in the end harm migrants in need of support.

“How can we reverse the tide? How can we stop the ghost of death that only fills the pockets of the human traffickers?” El Nour said at a regional ministerial meeting on mixed migration, which opened in Nairobi Wednesday.

IOM is calling for comprehensive ways to address migration. These include re-examination of border control policies and regional cooperation by countries sharing common borders points.

“Mixed migration is a complex phenomenon,” El Nour said. Migrants fleeing war, economic hardships and political persecution make a majority of those caught up in a complex web of human suffering. “There are strong push factors in the region which is contributing to the problem.”

Most of them flee the East African region using the Gulf of Eden into Yemen. On the Yemeni side, migrants often face the risk of gun fire from border patrol agencies and armed security, leading to incidences of drowning.

IOM has documented significant changes in the movement of the migrants. Most are shifting from using the Gulf of Eden, to the Red Sea, from where they enter Yemen.

“The human cost of this migration is prohibitive,” El Nour said. It is estimated 20,000 migrants die while trying to cross every year.

“There is a lot that can be done to end this smuggling and trafficking. These must include new policies and using forum like these ones to discuss our actions,” El Nour said.

Kenya formally joined the Regional Committee on Mixed Migration on Wednesday as it host the ministerial meeting, which is still underway in Nairobi. The Committee members include Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia, Puntland and Yemen.

IOM said countries across the region and across North Africa lacked the required funding to handle the growing migration crisis.

“We hope to implement the commitments made at past meeting of the committee. We look forward to new action points on the issue of migration and security. The governments need to think together. This way, they could be more effective on countering the cross- border crimes linked to migration,” El Nour said.

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