International Organisation for Migration (IOM) on Thursday revealed that over 14,000 Nigerians who are mostly victims of human trafficking and other exploitative practices have arrived in Italy since January to June, 2017.
Enira Krdzalic, Chief of Mission, IOM, who stated this at the launch of the EU-IOM Initiative for Migrants Protection and Re-integration in Abuja, said Nigeria accounted for the main country of origin of migrants arriving in Italy with 14,118 migrants this year alone.
Krdzalic noted that a significant percentage of migrants interviewed by IOM on their arrival in Italy were either victims of trafficking or other exploitative practices during their migratory journey along the routes of the central Mediterranean.
She stated that the IOM has been working tirelessly to offer assistance and re-integration to stranded migrants from Nigeria and other African countries.
According to her, “Crossing the Mediterranean is by far the deadliest route, with 3,256 deaths recorded between January and July 2017, with about 136 deaths from sub-Saharan Africa.
“IOM statistics for 2016 and 2017 have also shown that stranded migrants from North African countries, Libya in particular, accounts for more than 90 percent of migrants provided with return assistance.
“Between January and June 2017, more than 1,800 Nigerian migrants stranded in Libya and Niger have been assisted to return to Nigeria by IOM.
“Many of these migrants are stuck in terrible detention facilities and desiring the opportunities to return home and re-unite with their families.
“The increasing number of migrants returning to Nigeria from North Africa, as well as increased number of irregular migrants arriving in Italy from Nigeria suggests an increasing trend of irregular migration from Nigeria and this calls for urgent actions to address the situation.”
Commenting on the launch of a regional EU-IOM Initiative for Migrant Protection and Re-integration which Nigeria is part of, Krdzalic said the initiative was “aimed at protecting the security, dignity and rights of migrants along the central Mediterranean migration routes, improving the sustainability of re-integration programmes for returnees and strengthening the technical and operational capacities of the institutions involved in migration related activities, with a view to improving the governance of migration in the region.”
Also speaking, Kurt Cornelis, the Head of Cooperation, EU Delegation to Nigeria, identified challenges such as extreme poverty, armed conflict, lack of stability and economic fragility as the root causes of forced displacement and irregular migration.
Cornelius further blamed demographic pressure, institutional weaknesses and governance, weak social and economic infrastructure, environmental stress and insufficient resilience to food and nutritional crises confronting the African region as being responsible for the migration.
He noted that the EU and the International Organisation for Migration have developed the Joint Initiative for Migrant Protection and Re-integration in Africa to address these challenges, adding that the initiative is being implemented in 14 countries in Africa.
He also pointed out that the EU has earmarked 15.5 million Euros for the implementation of the initiative in Nigeria for the period of three years (2017—2019).
