UN committee calls on Africans to share experiences to confront migration

A United Nations committee, on Friday, called on African countries to exchange experiences to strengthen the response to irregular migration and good management of migration policies.

This came in a statement issued by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (54 Member States/based in Addis Ababa) at the conclusion of a workshop on migration, in Tangier, Morocco.

The two-day workshop was attended by officials from Morocco, Ivory Coast and Senegal, with the support of the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

In its statement, the committee said: “Good management of migration is one of the factors of prosperity and innovation (..) The workshop seeks to facilitate the exchange of good practices among African countries.”

The committee added: “We note the positive development of immigration policies in Morocco, in favour of the rights of foreign workers. On the other hand, there is a need to define the recognition of skills more clearly, including from a legal point of view, and establish a single procedure that includes all migrant workers.”

Last year, the Moroccan authorities arrested 466 smugglers of irregular migrants suspected of being linked to 123 criminal networks specialized in human trafficking and facilitating migration trips.

During the same year, 9,179 people were arrested for attempting to illegally migrate to Europe, including more than 6,000 persons of foreign nationalities, according to official data.