Says challenge requires better cooperation between countries
Lorena Lando, Tunisia Head of Mission for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said on Wednesday that 4,000 Tunisians have left the North African country illegally since the beginning of 2018, compared to 60,000 regular migrants.
Lando spoke at the 9th International Forum of NGOs in partnership with UNESCO, taking place in Tunis on September 26 and 27.
Lando said IOM manages various international programmes aimed at ensuring migrants' rights and their integration into society.
She said the role of civil society in host countries is important in terms of migrant integration, and that migration is a challenge that requires better cooperation between countries.
Abdelbasset Ben Hassan, president of the Arab Institute for Human Rights (AIHR), said migration is no longer seen as a source of wealth and diversity, although it is or should be.
He said the politicising of migration has favored the rise of "radical speech" and he highlighted the need to focus on the marginalisation and exclusion stoking this type of speech.
AIHR Executive Director Lamia Grar said Tunisia needs to adopt measures to fight illegal immigration but must also face the economic and social causes at the root of the problem.
She said the country must also ensure necessary protection to illegal migrants through negotiations and accords with host countries.
SOURCE: ANSAmed
