Mbah: We’ll partner IOM to resettle irregular migrants

Peter Mbah, governor of Enugu, says his administration is ready to partner with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) to ensure the safe return, resettlement, and reintegration of irregular and stranded migrants from the state.

Mbah spoke on Monday at the government house, while receiving a delegation of the IOM in Nigeria led by Laurent De Boeck, the chief of mission.

The governor said the government would assist the IOM in securing a zonal office in Enugu to enable the returnees to come home directly and be rehabilitated in the state.

He said the “radical social programmes” introduced by the his administration would be handy in equipping such returnees with skills to make a decent living.

The governor commended the IOM for its role in reducing the challenges faced by irregular migrants, including victims of trafficking and exploitation.

“As a government, we are quite ready to collaborate with you in the areas of integration of these victims and also those who may just be stranded abroad and interested in coming back home, to be reintegrated into their home state, “Mbah said.

“We have a lot of programmes that we have also designed as a state to cater for the welfare and wellbeing of our people.

“We have several radical programmes in the social services sector.

“Whether it is in education and healthcare, the government is involved in indepth programmes that will impact the lives of our people, including such returnees.

“Meanwhile, it should not be a case that if our people are to be brought back from outside the country, they would be kept in Lagos or elsewhere.

“I think they should be brought back to Enugu and we should be able to have at least a transit camp where they can stay and undergo counselling and get reintegrated.

“Therefore, we are also more than happy to work with you to have a zonal office in Enugu, as I was made to understand you are interested in securing one.”

Mbah also expressed the readiness of his administration to partner with IOM to utilise the positive side of migration by harnessing the state’s diaspora human resources for the good of the state.

“You know that we have a lot of programmes, which we believe will attract the diasporans. One is our Disapora Bond, which we hope to launch sometime in April this year,” he added.

“We believe that there are quite a lot of values that the disaporans can bring to our economy beyond remittances for consumption.

“So, if we are able to design an investment that can guarantee or secure their investment and also show some returns, we know that it will be attractive to them.

“This is why we are investing in the Enugu State Diaspora Investment Summit to raise awareness and tap into the consciousness of our people.”

On his part, De Boeck, said  the organisation has returned 350 people to Enugu so far noting that it will ensure the safe “return and reintegration of young, able people, who left the country”.

“For years, we have worked with some of our offices abroad and in other countries where we have identified Enugu people, who were stranded or were victims of smugglers and traffickers. And in this regard, we have organised their return and reintegration,”De Boeck said.

“We have returned 350 people so far to Enugu. Our offices in Libya and Niger Republic are where we have identified most of them.

“We have more of them in the plane coming back to Lagos, and we will look at the manifest to know if there is still any person from Enugu State among them, and we will activate their return.”

He commended the state government for its initiative to tap into successful Nigerians in diaspora.

The IOM chief noted that the organisation is working on developing avenues on how to help Nigerians to “migrate abroad, regularly, with a proper condition for safe jobs and proper conditions and dignity in their host countries”.