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East Africa: States to Step Up Coop, Tackle Migration
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The Daily Monitor (Addis Ababa)
14 May 2008
Posted to the web 14 May 2008
Abera W. Kidan
Addis Abeba
East African countries on Monday vowed to enhance interstate and intra-regional cooperation in the management of migration.
Senior government officials from IGAD member states have converged for a three-day workshop that kicked off on Monday at the African Union Commission Head Quarters in Addis Ababa.
The opening ceremony of the workshop was graced by the presence of IOM Director-General Brunson McKinley, .AU Commission Chairperson, Jin Ping, Ethiopian State Minister for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Dr. Tekeda Alemu and AU Commissioner for Social Affairs....
The workshop, the first ever for the sub-region, follows a series of political developments concerning migration in the continent and the AU strategic frame work for a migration policy including the EU-Africa Declaration on Migration and Development.
The east African sub-region is said to be not as well organized as the West Africa in dealing with the problem of migration.
In his opening address, State Minister Tekeda Alemu said weaknesses in the area of migration and the problems associated with it were a source of enormous challenges for Ethiopia and other countries in the sub-region.
He said the workshop could not have come at a more timely point than now, where there is a pressing need for an effective management of migration.
Tekeda appreciated the Afreican Union, IGAD Secretariat and the IOM for taking the initiative to organize this very important workshop, which he said would be of grate value.
He also expressed gratitude for the continous support Ethiopia received, and is receiving from IOM and personally thanked its Director-General Brunson MaacKinley same.
He said Ethiopia will spare no effort in tackling migration both at a national level and in coordination with other countries in the region.
"More often than not, there seems to be a tacit assumption that the problem of migration is a matter of concern for the developed world," State Minister Tekeda said.
"That's an erroneous assumption, for migration is a concern for both developed and developing worlds," he added.
Meanwhile, speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the workshop, IOM Director General Brunson McKinley said migration had a positive side to it and stressed to look at a tool for development as well.
"There is a growing consensus among the international community about migration, that is both positive and negative," the Director General said "What we need to do, what the international community-all players need to do, is finding a way, a policy, an arrangement to maximize the benefits and minimize the negative aspects." The Director-General explained on the nature and scope of bad aspects of migration, which he said brain drain was one.
But he said brain drain could be turned in to brain gain.
"Brain drain could be worked on," he said.
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"We could work against brain drain by, for instance, by opening the regular channels to get in and by strengthening international cooperation." He commended Ethiopia for trying to set up an institution to work with its Diaspora aimed at ensuring Diaspora money and expertise is channelled into the development endeavors, while at the same time ensuring the Diaspora's self interest.
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