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Mr. Lamin Jammeh, Migration Officer, Gambia Immigration Department (Gambia)

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Mr. Lamin Jammeh, Migration Officer, Gambia Immigration Department (Gambia)

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My recommendation as a best practice will be the case of my country which after the launch of the GCM established the National Coordination mechanism for Migration (NCM), that is a high-level migration interagency body charged with the responsibility to coordinate the management of Migration in The Gambia. The NCM has eight thematic working groups concentrating on different relevant issues of migration management.

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Ms. Roza Alsulaiteen, International Labour Relations Researcher, Ministry of Labour (Qatar)

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Ms. Roza Alsulaiteen, International Labour Relations Researcher, Ministry of Labour (Qatar)

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Qatar has taken many legislative reforms in the field of work, by abolishing the Kafala system, protecting workers through protecting wages and setting a minimum limit for that, and many reforms that are helping migrants.

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Mr. Joel Mwanzia, Deputy Commissioner for Labour, Ministry of Labour (Kenya)

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Mr. Joel Mwanzia, Deputy Commissioner for Labour, Ministry of Labour (Kenya)

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As an immediate former Labour Attache to the State of Qatar, I handled many complaints by Kenyan Migrants concerning their irregular migration to Qatar resulting with their exploitation by both the recruitment agencies in Kenya working in cahoots and their counterparts abroad. Most of them were made to pay high recruitment fees which is contrary to the laws of both countries and had their contracts substituted to reflect inferior terms than earlier agreed. Others were trafficked to non-existent jobs forcing them to seek underground jobs to survive. While access to justice is provided under the host country's laws including labour laws, there were challenges in addressing the migrants' concerns owing to the 'Kafala System' (now being repealed), which constrained the migrants from freely changing their employers unless they were allowed to do so  by the employer. Unionization and other forms of pressure groups and actions including protests are very difficult, almost impossible to set up, making it difficult to ventilate some of the most serious issues faced by migrants. Furthermore, even though the Host Country was aware of the underground labour needs of their economy particularly in sectors such as the care, hospitality, construction and agriculture among others, work visa issuance for fresh migrants or regularization of status for those who had fallen into irregular status was not given priority by the authorities, thus aiding the activities of smugglers and traffickers.

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Mr. Joel Mwanzia, Deputy Commissioner for Labour, Ministry of Labour (Kenya)

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Mr. Joel Mwanzia, Deputy Commissioner for Labour, Ministry of Labour (Kenya)

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As a stable democracy and peaceful country in the East Africa, Kenya has in the last four or so decades has hosted a large number of refugees, from neighbouring countries, who fled armed conflict and internal instability (Somalia, South Sudan), adverse climatic conditions (Ethiopia, Somalia), and political/ethnic conflict - Rwanda. At one point, Kenya had close to 2 million refugees in Dadaab and Kakuma refugee camps in North Eastern and Rift valley provinces respectively.

Over years, Kenya's leadership has played a leading role in promoting and sponsoring peace initiative between warring groups in various countries in the region, in the realization that, without a stable and enduring peace within her neighbours, the influx of refugees will continue being reported from her neighbours. Examples of peace initiatives initiatives and efforts led by Kenyan include _ the peaceful settlement of the armed conflict in Sudan which resulted with the creation of South Sudan as an independent Country; the sponsoring of peace talks which resulted into establishment of a stable government in Somalia after many years of civil war following the overthrow of Siad Barre regime; the Current peace initiative between warring sides in Ethiopia chaired by former president of Kenya - H.E Uhuru Kenya. of importance is that, Kenya has a standing UN force in Somalia which has been a part of multinational force stabilizing peace in Somalia, and recently a security contingency was sent to Democratic Republic of Congo to help in consolidating peace efforts in the country. In undertaking and promoting all these activities, Kenya is aware of the fact that, a peaceful East, Horn of Africa and central African will facilitate the free movement of persons, goods and services which are central cogs for promotion of prosperity and creation creation of wealth for Kenyans and our our neighbours.

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Mr. Vugar Sardarov, Inspector of International Cooperation Department, The State Migration Service  (Azerbaijan)

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Mr. Vugar Sardarov, Inspector of International Cooperation Department, The State Migration Service  (Azerbaijan)

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“Enhancing the socioeconomic benefits of remittances in Azerbaijan” is a project implemented by IOM together with the State Migration Service as the main beneficiary which was launched on January 1, 2022. Activities such as analysis of the current trends, procedures, services, national legislation, and policies related to remittances, preparation of a road map for the development and launch of an innovative digital money transfer system, the launch of a pilot digital application and measures to ensure its sustainability are planned within the framework of the 24-month project. The project will support the implementation of activities in the provision of better service products, more affordable service costs, potential investment opportunities, and other areas related to the sending of remittances to the countries of destination by foreigners and stateless persons staying and residing in Azerbaijan, as well as by Azerbaijani emigrants in other countries. The overall goal of the project is to increase access to financial services and enable greater use of digital financial services among Azerbaijani migrants abroad and remittance recipients in Azerbaijan to support sustainable livelihood development. The project will provide a basis to further enhance development cooperation among government institutions, banks, and partners, in supporting the financial inclusion of migrants and remittance recipients in the era of digitalization.

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Ms. Mpolokeng Makhema, Assistant Parliamentary Counsel, Ministry of Law and Justice (Lesotho)

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Ms. Mpolokeng Makhema, Assistant Parliamentary Counsel, Ministry of Law and Justice (Lesotho)

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Lesotho, under the Ministry of Home Affairs in 2021-2022, undertook a birth registration campaign where 300 000+ Basotho Nationals were registered (persons from different categories). This effort helped reduce the number of Basotho at the risk of statelessness and allowed those residing in hard to reach places and areas in the mountains of Lesotho to receive the service.

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Mr. Joel Mwanzia, Deputy Commissioner for Labour, Ministry of Labour (Kenya)

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Mr. Joel Mwanzia, Deputy Commissioner for Labour, Ministry of Labour (Kenya)

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In the first half of 2022, the Kenya government implemented a program which involved the granting of Citizenship to the Makonde tribe/Community through issuance of National Identity Cards. Members of the Makonde arrived in Kenya in the 1940s from as afar as Mozambique and Southern Tanzania to work as labourers in sugar and sisal plantations in the Coastal region of Kenya. when the farms went out of business many members of the Community never returned back to their countries of origin and especially descendants of the initial migrants. They remained in the country not only without citizenship but also without a livelihood. However, following the promulgation of the new Kenya constitution in 2010, Parliament was required to pass a law to provide for the granting of citizenship to all stateless people who had lived in Kenya for a minimum number of years . Parliament passed the Citizenship and Immigration Act 2011,which provided for all stateless persons to be granted citizenship within 5 years from the passage of the law. The five year period ended on 30th August 2021 and this paved the way for issuance of National ID and birth documents to hundreds of Makonde community who had hitherto been stateless in Kenya for many years.

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Mr. Vugar Sardarov, Inspector of International Cooperation Department, The State Migration Service  (Azerbaijan)

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Mr. Vugar Sardarov, Inspector of International Cooperation Department, The State Migration Service  (Azerbaijan)

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Through a mobile application, all migrants, regardless of their status, have access to basic services and remedies to protect their rights. In particular, the "MigAz" mobile application was considered the most effective way to legalize the stay and residence of foreigners in the country during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the provision of other migration services under the special quarantine regime (as users were able to use online e-services more easily). The calls and enquiries are answered directly through the application which has Azerbaijani, English and Russian language options. Regular updates and notifications related to e-services are sent to users through the mobile application. It is planned to increase the capacity and the services rendered via the mobile application. One of the challenges for "MigAz"development was to introduce it to large audiences and increase its functionality. For this purpose, the application was presented officially and covered in the media. We believe that international partners online information platforms and information resources could be used to promote the "MigAz" mobile application abroad. Currently works are underway to expand the capabilities of the mobile application. For this purpose, special activities are envisaged for the improvement of the "MigAz" mobile application within the framework of the “Support to the Implementation of the Mobility Partnership with Azerbaijan (MOBILAZE-2)” project, implemented jointly with the International Center for Migration Policy Development of the Republic of Azerbaijan. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=dmx.az.mobile https://apps.apple.com/az/app/MigAz/id1466043391

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Mr. Oluwaseyi Olawuyi, Founder/CEO, Initiatives for Safe Migration and Social Justice (Nigeria)

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Mr. Oluwaseyi Olawuyi, Founder/CEO, Initiatives for Safe Migration and Social Justice (Nigeria)

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I just want to stress the need by African continent to look into the issue of irregular migration en route Sahara desert to Libya to Mediterranean sea to Europe. I think the situation at the detention camps in Libya should be looked into. The stories coming from that detention camp are untold and against the human rights conventions.

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Mr. Yohannis Girma Andarge, Public prosecutor – Legal Awareness, Training and Education Directorate, Ministry of Justice (Ethiopia)

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Mr. Yohannis Girma Andarge, Public prosecutor – Legal Awareness, Training and Education Directorate, Ministry of Justice (Ethiopia)

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My country, Ethiopia is very much compliant with international provisions. We have large number of refugees from neighboring counties like Eritrea ,South Sudan, but also from Syria, Yemen ,Somalia, etc. We have also adopted laws which allow migrants access to work to lead their livelihood as any Ethiopian citizen by identifying the work areas to be enrolled. Generally, Ethiopia is one of the most refugee and migrant friendly countries in the world.

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Mr. Peter Grayson Mbaku, Regional Immigration Officer, Immigration Department (Tanzania)

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Mr. Peter Grayson Mbaku, Regional Immigration Officer, Immigration Department (Tanzania)

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The GCM is a huge document with 23 objectives and sometimes it looks like over-ambitious to implement all objectives at once given the particular context of specific nations. My advice would be for countries to find which is suitable for them in their specific social economic context. For example the African Union (AU) has come up with a Common African Position on the GCM and agreed to implement first the six thematic areas/ objectives of the GCM instead of the whole document of the GCM.

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Ms. Mari Khris Estrada, National Legal Officer, International Organization for Migration (Philippines)

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Ms. Mari Khris Estrada, National Legal Officer, International Organization for Migration (Philippines)

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I review a lot of contracts for IOM's activities and I am also the focal person in IOM's contract review unit on contracts for activities on cash based interventions (CBI). I am happy to learn that our activities are built around the objectives of the GCM. For example, in CBI activities, our Missions' activities are designed to make collection of remittances (assistance) easier by the use of mobile money transfers, prepaid cards and others. Some programmes also include a lot of capacity building initiatives such as provision of seed money to jump start micro enterprises, among others.

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Mr. Jean-Claude Bashirahishize, Project Manager - Migrant Protection, International Organization for Migration (Chad)

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Mr. Jean-Claude Bashirahishize, Project Manager - Migrant Protection, International Organization for Migration (Chad)

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In Chad, after several capacity building sessions and raising awareness of authorities and security agencies on the protection of migrants by IOM, irregular migrants are no longer detained and those who were detained have been released. Security authorities, when they are in contact of irregular migrants, they refer them to IOM for case management and further assessment if they are eligible/willing to be assisted under the voluntary return and reintegration program. The collaboration between IOM, authorities and security officials has been fruitful so far.

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Mr. Chimoabi Charles Anumnu, Migration Officer, National Commission for Refugees Migrant and Internally Displaced Person (Nigeria)

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Mr. Chimoabi Charles Anumnu, Migration Officer, National Commission for Refugees Migrant and Internally Displaced Person (Nigeria)

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Awareness-raising for communities on how to recognize the signs of trafficking in persons and how to report it to relevant agencies.

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Mr. Joel Mwanzia, Deputy Commissioner for Labour, Ministry of Labour (Kenya)

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Mr. Joel Mwanzia, Deputy Commissioner for Labour, Ministry of Labour (Kenya)

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During my tenure as the Labour Attache in Doha, we handled so many cases of Kenyan migrant workers trafficked on the promise of well paying jobs, only to realize that they were odd jobs often low paid and precarious in nature. The Commissions paid to the brokers facilitating the migration an average of $1200, not to mention that there were those whose promised jobs were non-existent (meaning the jobs were fake).

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Ms Mari Khris Estrada, National Legal Officer, International Organization for Migration  (Philippines)

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Ms Mari Khris Estrada, National Legal Officer, International Organization for Migration  (Philippines)

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My country, the Philippines, has a good migrant worker protection system in place. Philippines is a country where remittances sent back by overseas Filipino workers is one of the driving forces of its economy. Thus, even before the GCM, the Philippines have been implementing programs that recognize the role of migrant workers in the country's development. The Philippines have set up a number of government offices that aims to protect the rights of migrant workers. A number of institutionalized efforts also exist that respond to the needs of migrant workers, such as the enactment of laws protecting the rights of migrants, bilateral agreements with other States for the protection of migrants, among others.

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Mr. Joel Mwanzia, Deputy Commissioner for Labour, Ministry of Labour (Kenya)

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Mr. Joel Mwanzia, Deputy Commissioner for Labour, Ministry of Labour (Kenya)

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In order to facilitate ethical recruitment practices by private recruitment agencies and enhance the protection of Kenyan migrant workers in the Middle East Countries where many of unemployed Kenyans are seeking employment, the Government of Kenya has initiated engagements with specific countries in the Middle East including the United Arab Emirates, the State of Qatar and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with a view to revise the existing Bilateral Labour Frameworks to align them with emerging needs of both Countries.

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Mr. Prosper Kambarami, Head Immigration National Compliance Unit, Department of Immigration (Zimbabwe)

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Mr. Prosper Kambarami, Head Immigration National Compliance Unit, Department of Immigration (Zimbabwe)

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Zimbabwe has adopted a zero policy on detention of minors regardless of their migrant status. Heads of regions are on one social group that is supervised by an appointed person from directorate where each arrest is openly interrogated and its lawfulness vented. Decisions and actions are monitored hence high levels of accountability and process. Where minors are involved, a case management system is in place with clear referral mechanism and personnel. Success rate of assigning minors in an irregular set up is at least 85%. Detention of migrants is now subject to judicial review and judges oblige immigration officers to account for every detainee in an open session.

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Mr. Vugar Sardarov, Inspector of International Cooperation Department, The State Migration Service  (Azerbaijan)

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Mr. Vugar Sardarov, Inspector of International Cooperation Department, The State Migration Service  (Azerbaijan)

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The “Reintegration Support to Azerbaijani Returnees (RESTART)” project was implemented by the ICMPD and launched on January 1, 2019 and finalized on April 30, 2021 while the State Migration Service of the Republic of Azerbaijan acted as a beneficiary. With 400.000 euros budget, the project was jointly funded by the Ministry of Interior of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Repatriation and Departure Service of the Kingdom of Netherlands and the Ministry of Interior and Administration of the Republic of Poland. The overall objective of the project which had been implemented for 28 months was to support the implementation of the Readmission Agreement with the EU through strengthening the capacities of authorities and civil society in Azerbaijan in the area of reintegration, to actively facilitate sustainable return from the European Union Member States and reintegration of Azerbaijani nationals. Within the framework of the project, the “Reintegration Guidelines for Azerbaijani returnees from the European Union Member States” was developed, information leaflets in Azerbaijani and English were published and shared among Azerbaijani returnees, and cooperation was established with some NGOs. The project provided reintegration support to 87 Azerbaijani returnees belonging to vulnerable groups.

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Governments need to work on developing and implementing bilateral and regional migration frameworks to regulate migration which should progressively transform into the development of an international instrument.

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ILO should play a leading role in promoting the ratification of International Labour Standards on migration by member states

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Developed Countries need to increase their technical and financial support to developing and least developed countries develop policies and capacities for addressing migration issues and challenges.