ECOWAS commission urges collaboration from member states to address irregular migration, trans-border crimes

The Vice President of the ECOWAS Commission, Her Excellency, Mrs Damtien Tchintchibidja has stressed the need to address the issues of irregular migration, terrorist attacks, trans-border crimes, farmer-herder conflicts, human trafficking, and political violence in the sub-region.

Speaking at a workshop on Experts in Migration, Humanitarian Affairs and Health Specialists yesterday in Abuja, Tchintchibidja stressed the need to put in place a contingency plan for the management of displaced persons in the ECOWAS region.

She observed that apart from addressing the current situation of returning African migrants, internally displaced persons (IDPs), and asylum-seekers in the ECOWAS region, it is a collective responsibility of the ECOWAS regional body and WAHO as a regional health organization to respond to the various alerts and come up with possible solutions

She said, “By reflecting on the different aspects of these issues to have a thorough understanding and by coming up as quickly as possible with appropriate solutions before the problems reach proportions that might be out of control.

“The ECOWAS Commission is willing to go beyond assessment missions and current punctual humanitarian actions and is planning to work with the West African Health Organization (WAHO) to elaborate a contingency plan which will guide our actions in handling efficiently these humanitarian emergencies and their related health risks,”.

Tchintchibidja observed that the nature of the issues required proper planning, coordination, and resource mobilization, as well as collaboration with Member States and Partners already working in humanitarian and health fields.

According to her, “The solutions will not come from a single Member State or one organization, it will take concerted and consistent efforts to address issues such as irregular migration, terrorist attacks, trans-border crimes, farmer-herder conflicts, human trafficking, or political violence,” said the ECOWAS Commission Vice President.

Also speaking, the Director-General of WAHO, Dr AISSI Melchior Athanase, stated that beyond the consequences of refoulement linked to the migratory crisis which pushes African youth towards the countries of the North, there had been population displacements due to more or less generalized armed security crises.

“In terms of figures, according to the report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees published on August 25, 2022, during the last United Nations General Assembly, there were approximately 38.3 million forcibly displaced people who needed 3 protection and assistance in sub-Saharan Africa. Among them were nearly 25 million internally displaced persons, 7 million refugees, 4.2 million returnees, 1 million stateless persons and 542,000 asylum seekers. Millions of citizens of our community space are also counted among these people,” he said.

“These upheavals are at the origin of the complexity of the situation in which national health systems must face the challenges of Universal Health Coverage as well as the preparation and response to health emergencies,” he added.

He explained that it was in view of all those elements that it became necessary to put in place a contingency plan to strengthen the capacities of national health systems and to frame the support action of WAHO and ECOWAS to Member States.

According to the WAHO Director-General, remarkable progress had been made with colleagues from the ECOWAS Department of Humanitarian and Social Affairs to support these vulnerable populations and coordinate the action of stakeholders.

While congratulating the Commissioner for Social and Humanitarian Affairs, for her leadership and unwavering support for our Member States, Dr. AISSI Athanase also saluted the collaboration with the other Commissioners of the ECOWAS Commission and their teams who are present alongside us on a daily basis.

Other key stakeholders at the opening ceremony included the ECOWAS Commissioner for Humanitarian Development and Social Affairs, Professor Fatou Sarr and; International Federation of Red Cross (IFRC) Regional Representative and Head of Abuja, Momodou Lamin Fye.

The lead organisers of the workshop are Dr. Virgil Lokossou, Executive Director of the ECOWAS Regional Centre for Surveillance and Disease Control (RCSDC), representing WAHO and; Dr. Ugbe Sintiki, Director of Humanitarian Affairs, representing the ECOWAS Commission.