THE out-going Minister for Special Duties and Inter-governmental Affairs, Kabiru Tanimu Turaki has said that the National Migration Policy recently approved by the Federal Executive Council(FEC) will promote regular migration flows within and outside Nigeria as well as protect the fundamental rights of migrants.

In a statement yesterday in Abuja, Turaki said that the approval is coming at a time when the global community is yearning for constructive migration policy that promotes the rights of migrants and regular migration as well as emphasizes social integration.

The FEC had on May 13, 2015 approved the policy to pave way for better coordination mechanism and approach for the protection of human rights of migrants.

According to the minister, “coincidentally, the European Union(EU) on the same day launched a new agenda for migration which seeks to deal with the different dimensions and thousands of migrants arriving in Europe via the Mediterranean, the EU proposal is a major breakthrough in improving the protection system relating to migration and the redistribution of migrants to mitigate the threat which may be caused by a number of fears.”

He noted that information available indicates that Nigeria has the fifth highest number of citizens who cross the Mediterranean in the bid to search for greener pasture.

He also added that there was anecdotal evidence which indicates that Nigeria has the highest number of migrants flow within the ECOWAS sub-region.