Civil Society Organizations, assert a novel strategy to combat irregular migration to the EU. Osita Osemene highlights the shift from raising awareness about perils to educating potential Nigerian emigrants about the seven EU directives governing legal migration. A workshop, initiated by EU countries, aims to train CSOs to disseminate the legal migration information in local communities.
The workshop emphasizes that 86 percent of potential Nigerian migrants are unaware of the EU migration options, Osita Osemene who is the Nigerian Technical Assitant to the FIIAPP project, stresses the importance of educating individuals on EU directives to discern fake opportunities. He calls for the establishment and localization of migration centers across Nigeria to implement this new strategy.
In an interactive session, CSO’s highlighted that Nigerians are not afforded the same privileges as individuals in other third-world countries concerning migration, work opportunities, and asylum. Bose Aggrey, the Executive Director of Web of Heart Foundation, shared a story about someone deported from the UK after 33 years. She also recalled a time 55,000 job openings for third-world countries coincided with the deportation of about 14,000 Nigerians from Germany.
Emmanual Sule, Executive Director of the Center for Development and Cultural Interchange, said that the recommendations formulated would foster safe and regular migration in Nigeria. Some of which include: creating a migrant information center, translating the seven legal directives into local languages, ensuring accessible regular migration pathways, and providing support for returnees. Sule believes the newfound awareness will deter perilous journeys and enhance legal migration education efforts.
The seminar, organized by the international and Ibero-American Foundation for Administration and Public Policies (FIIAPP) with the support of the European Union, involves discussions to address migration challenges in Nigeria and other countries where the program is implemented.
