At least 9,000 Nigerians have died trying to migrate to Europe irregularly, a Non-government Organisation, Pan African Institute for Global Affairs and Strategy (PAIGAS), has said.
The President of PAIGAS, Abuja Chapter Ambassador Martin Uhomoibhi said this at the first quarter coordination meeting of the Technical Working Group (TWG) on Migration in Abuja on Thursday.
He expressed dismay that most of the affected youths were graduates who had enough money enough to start a business in Nigeria.
“Those youths travelling are not poor,” he said. “They pay highly to get trafficked abroad.”
While emphasising that no society was without its challenges, Uhomoibhi challenged the youths to work towards making Nigeria better rather than looking for escape route.
“That is why we targeting youths with National Youth Service Corps our focus. We have reached over 100 thousand youth corps members through our organisation.’
On her part, the Federal Commissioner, National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI), Sadiya Umar Farouq said the process of developing the Global Compact for Migration (GCM) started last year.
She said the final report from the meeting would serve as a roadmap “for our collective effort towards developing a National Action Plan for combating irregular migration in Nigeria. ”
The GCM document, which will be adopted in September 2018, will contain guides on how to respond to issues of migration by the international community.
She also disclosed that the government in collaboration with International Organisation for Migration and other stakeholders were in the process of returning and rehabilitating all stranded Nigerians from Libya.
