AU official: Standalone migration policies not sustainable

WINDHOEK, March 26 (Xinhua) -- The African Union (AU) migration advisor in the department of social affairs, Peter Mudungwe, said Monday that standalone migration policies have limited impact and are not sustainable.

Mudungwe told the two-day workshop on Africa's migration policy framework that opened in Namibia's capital Windhoek that migration policies should be integrated into broader national development frameworks for sustainability and far-reaching impact.

Themed Workshop on Creating Awareness of the Migration Policy Framework for Africa and Plan of Action 2018-2030, the workshop marks the beginning of the African Union Commission's efforts toward capacity building in the area of migration governance.

The AU adopted the revised migration policy framework in January 2018 during the 30th Summit. The framework has a 12-year plan of action that runs from 2018 until 2030.

Mudungwe said the Commission revised the 2006 migration policy framework for Africa in line with the complex and ever-changing migration terrain on the continent.

In recent years, Mudungwe added, migration has been characterized by feminization and an increase in the number of youth as well as an upsurge in irregular migratory flows that include human trafficking and smuggling.

"Despite the numerous migration challenges facing the continent, the Commission is mindful that if managed coherently, nations and regions can reap the benefits of the linkages between migration and development," Mudungwe said.

According to Mudungwe, the starting point was the formulation of the communication strategy that focuses on creating awareness and increasing knowledge of the policy framework among relevant actors.

The second point, he explained, would be the conducting of a continent-wide assessment of the capacity building and training needs of local government authorities on migration governance.

Namibia's home affairs deputy minister Maureen Hinda told the workshop that migration has multiple stakeholders and facets of safety and security, defence, labor, justice, and international relations, to name a few.

"It is indeed a cross-cutting issue thus we all need to engage to be on par, to ensure smooth mobility of our citizenry within Africa," Hinda said.

Hinda also said considering the increase in human trafficking, drug trafficking, smuggling of counterfeit goods, money laundering, tax evasion it is crucial to have comparable and compatible systems in place, to address the issues.

"We, as member states are thus required to come up with robust policies guided by the AU migration frameworks to adequately address this situation," he said.

Countries, Hinda said, need to work together to improve population registers and verification systems to make migration a smooth process while respecting human rights of those who chose and those who were to migrate.

The two-day workshop that opened in Windhoek Monday is being attended by officials from the African Union Commission department of social affairs, southern African region countries' government officials and United Nations representatives. Enditem