Off the wire
• UNICEF warns about alarming rise in suicide attacks by women, girls in Nigeria  • Urgent: U.S. stocks rebound strongly with 3rd record closing for Nasdaq  • UN humanitarian envoy in Sudan concerned over reports of mass displacement  • U.S. VP urges Ukraine to fight corruption amid crisis  • 1st LD Writethru: U.S. dollar mixed against other currencies  • UAE drops 4 places in IMD global competitiveness  • Mass public events to mark inaugural Int'l Yoga Day in Belgium  • Bank of Canada maintains overnight rate target at 0.75 percent  • Israel appeals world organ to oversee Gaza rehabilitation  • 1st LD Writethru: Oil prices fall amid concerns about surplus supplies  
You are here: 　 Home

AU calls on firm actions to prevent migration tragedies

Xinhua, May 28, 2015 Adjust font size:

The African Union (AU) has called on its member states to make their countries attractive and safer to discourage citizens making perilous journeys on migration in search of better lives.

The pan-African bloc on Wednesday held a memorial service for migrant victims at the AU headquarters in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, which was attended by diplomats, AU partners, local and international organizations, civil society organizations, religious leaders and returned migrants.

Speaking on the occasion, Mustapha Sidiki Kaloko, AU Commissioner for Social Affairs, expressed concerns at the pattern in which young people are losing their lives through the hazardous journeys in search of better lives.

The commissioner underscored the need to find immediate and long-term solutions to prevent such kind of catastrophes.

"Despite the initiatives that AU is undertaking on the issue of human trafficking and irregular migration, we have to accept that the challenges still remain and more needs to be done," said the commissioner.

"We need to make a conscious effort to address the root causes of these tragedies by building each other up honestly and sincerely," emphasized Kaloko.

The commissioner highlighted that the event is not only to pay tribute to the victims, but "a time to reflect on where we have gone wrong and how we can work on preventing such recurrent calamities in the future."

Wahade Belay, representative of the Ethiopian government, noted that the situation requires a comprehensive and universal response to eliminate the abuse, violence and exploitation experienced by migrants.

The official stressed the urgency for not only national but global action.

"We need to get durable and comprehensive approaches to this situation within the context of poverty eradication, creation of employment and sustainable development," he said.

Attending the memorial event, the AU partners reiterated the fact that the situation needs to be addressed by attacking the root causes, agreeing that the challenge is huge and needs international interventions.

The partners reaffirmed their support and promised to continue working closely with AU to find a permanent solution to these vices. Endi