AS US readies to support the East African Community (EAC) in controlling the deadly Ebola fever from spreading across borders, the latter is joining hands with International Organisation for Migration (IOM) to ensure safe, orderly and regular migration within the bloc.

This comes as the six partner states look to bolster free movement of persons – migration that is being facilitated by the commitment of Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan in the implementation of the EAC Common Market Protocol provisions.

To that end, there is development of a regional policy on eimmigration, progressive implementation of integrated border management, initiatives to build the capacity of immigration officials and other border management authorities.

Along with that, it is implementation of the monitoring and evaluation framework and data collection of migration movement in the Community that Ambassador Mfumukeko says need support from stakeholders and specifically calls for IOMto lend a hand in as far as migration is concerned.

The Secretary General says that the Community is concerned about security issues that could arise due to free movement of persons within and outside the EAC. He expresses concern at the overdependence on the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) when it comes to support for refugees, repatriation and supporting the welfare and rights of refugees.

When he met the new IOM Regional Director for the East and Horn of Africa, Mr Muhammed Abdiker at the EAC Headquarters here last week, the diplomat said that refugees were a special category of migrants that needed collaborative support from EAC partner states as well as specialised United Nations (UN) agencies handling refugee matters such as IOM and UNHCR.

He requested IOM to specifically support the EAC Secretariat to develop and implement capacity building initiatives in the region, so that a critical mass is developed with adequate skills and knowledge to implement immigration functions that promote safe, orderly and regular migration of persons in the EAC partner states.

On his part, Mr Abdiker, who, among other things, presented his credentials to the Secretary General, told him that the IOM was ready to enhance further cooperation to promote the mutual relationship of IOM and EAC.

Mr Abdiker said that the IOM was ready to partner with the EAC to promote safe, orderly and regular migration in the EAC through training and building capacity of border management officials to fight crossborder crime, especially human smuggling and trafficking.

Mr Abdiker further said that the IOM was in the process of ensuring that the EAC Secretariat, through focal point offices, is included in the coordination of the implementation of the recommendations of the Global Compact for Migration.

The IOM official observed that the issue of refugees had become topical in the region and called for top political commitment to resolve the crisis.

He pledged that IOM will ensure that the EAC Secretariat gets regular updates on statistics of the movement of migrants and refugee populations in the EAC region, to inform the regional policy development and implementation.

He urged EAC partner states to ratify the Protocol on Free Movement of Persons, Right to Residence, and Right to Establishment of the agreement towards an African Continental Free Trade Area.

The meeting agreed on a convenient date of 25th November this year for the technical teams of the EAC Secretariat and IOM to deliberate on the areas of cooperation between the dual and develop capacity building programme to be implemented in the EAC partner states to enhance immigration management in the context of the EAC Common Market Protocol.

In another development, the United States has pledged to support EAC on the Ebola fever virus threat that causes an acute, serious illness which is often fatal and is known to have affected and killed people in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Source: Daily News

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