African parliamentarians call for lifting of barriers to ease movement

African parliamentarians who have been meeting in Djibouti for the second African parliamentary conference on migration, have appealed for the lifting of barriers to facilitate human movement across the continent.

In the final statement, the parliamentarians called for protection of migrants' rights and continued fight against all forms of discrimination, intolerance and racism towards migrants.

While urging African governments to come up with common policies on migration, the parliamentarians appealed to them to incorporate views of migrants while drafting such policies.

They further called for resettlement of migrants returning to their countries of origin as well as coming up with cooperation mechanisms in the fight against organized crime, terrorism and criminal gangs that benefit from movement of migrants.

On the legal front and international frameworks that guide migration, the parliamentarians urged states to "adopt policies enabling migrants to do normal jobs in their host countries."

The conference equally urged countries of origin and host nations to sign bilateral agreements to protect rights of foreign workers.

Promotion of dialogue, partnership and cooperation were highlighted by the participants who urged states to share information and come up with policies to manage migrations.

Education of populations on the risks of migration, reduction of risks of disasters and development of sustainable solutions in favour of victims of forced migrations were equally proposed in the final document that was adopted by African parliamentarians.

The second African parliamentary conference on migrations was organized by the African Parliamentary Union in partnership with the Inter-Parliamentary Union. European parliamentarians and experts on migrations were equally invited to the two-days conference that ended on Wednesday. Endit