National policy on migration advocated

Government has been urged to enact a national policy on migration and development to concretely help address the various opportunities and challenges arising from the sector, an expert has said.

The Executive Secretary for Human Development at the National Catholic Secretariat, Mr. Samuel Zan Akologo, said it was critical for Ghana as a signatory to Africa Union Frameworks on migration to domesticate the policy to address Ghana’s need.

 He said “Government only interest itself in Immigration service and Remittances of Ghanaian emigrants and occasionally reacting to embarrassing news arising from migration” was not enough.

He said these at a recent presentation to the International Working Group meeting on Migration and Trafficking of Caritas Internationalis in Rome recently.

With changing dynamics in the nature and scope of human movements and emerging global trends, the Executive Secretary underscored the need for frequent examination of the subject matter, sharing new knowledge and reviewing Ghana’s response to the situation.

Highlighting the situation of migration in the country, Mr. Akologo noted among others that the seasonal movements of nomads and herdsmen from Mali, Niger and Chad into Northern Ghana and some areas in Brong-Ahafo, Ashanti, Volta and Eastern Regions, created situations of over-grazing, destruction of farms and crops and occasional skirmishes between them and native inhabitants. He emphasized that this has become a national security issue with human safety and livelihood at the core.

He bemoaned the fact that powerful economic interests was affecting the work on migration, and cited instances where powerful individuals in the cities were benefiting from trafficking and the menial services provided by youth who have migrated from poorer regions and engaged as house-helps, with some enjoying the services of migrant head potters (Kayeye) at the markets who move goods from one point to the other.

He noted that the recent outbreak of Ebola Viral Disease (EVD) was a challenge to migration and development, adding that the refugee camps in Ghana hosting displaced Liberians and Sierra Leoneans was posing new health challenges for the Government of Ghana than was hitherto imagined.

“We should also note that migration generally has both positive and negative implications for human development which cannot be ignored and should not be handled in an arbitrary manner,” he stated.   

Thus “migration is a call for both a policy and programme response at all levels of governance; national, regional and global” he stressed.

According the Executive Secretary, limited research to expose empirical evidence of the scope, nature and implications of migration was a critical concern to development, especially at a time the dynamics of the field of migration needed constant examination and sharing of new knowledge.

Mr. Akologo observed that the diminishing livelihood opportunities and lack of social amenities in rural areas, would continue to push the youth to the cities, and asserted that their situation was likely to worsen in cities because of the absence of social safety nets.

The support services provided by the Catholic Church through its Department of Human Development at the destinations may only be a mitigating factor but not the solution. How can we therefore re-strategize to tackle the problem from the root?

He shared Caritas–Ghana response to address the situation, saying it included direct intervention for protection and provision of well-fare services, normally at the level of the Diocesan Caritas or other Church-related organizations, and cited Navrongo-Bolgatanga street children project, Catholic Action for street children in Accra and Kumasi, and the Christian Mothers’ Association projects in the cities as some efforts being undertaken. He also noted the work of the Marshallan Relief and Development Services (MAREDES) in partnership with the Ghana Immigration Service as ground-breaking which needs to be sustained. Their joint workshop on the subject matter at a recent country forum of partners was highly patronized and lauded.

He mentioned the Migrants, Refugees and Relief Unit of Caritas – Ghana at the National Catholic Secretariat intervention, as official Implementation Partner (IP) of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in Ghana, in habitat and social services provision for the over 20,000 refugees in the country.

Under Public Policy Advocacy, Mr. Akologo said policy education was a key component of Caritas advocacy work, adding that it also uses networking and strategic partnership approach to mitigate limitations of individual organizations and build synergies for multi-dimensional attack on the problems of migration and human trafficking in the country.

He called for more local actions to address the migration situation in the country, and stressed the need for effective international relations for far-reaching policy response.

The Executive Secretary recommended the constant presence Caritas Internationalis at global policy spaces, where dialogue on migration and development and Trafficking were taking place. Mr Zan Akologo advised that it is more strategic to be at the point of policy making than to be reacting at the point of policy implementation.