By Yiep Joseph
First Vice President (FVP) D. Riek Machar Teny has called for the protection of migrants, saying they contribute to the country’s development.
In his opening remarks during the 2nd Annual Inter-Ministerial Summit on Migration Governance in South Sudan, Dr. Machar expressed that well-managed migration has a lot of benefits for the country, and there is a need for concerned institutions to protect migrants.
“I believe if you have migrants who come to South Sudan, you should avoid them being exploited or being abused,” Dr. Machar said.
“We should protect migrants; we should look at them positively” he added
He added that there is need to respect the rights of migrants.
“So, in strengthening the legal rights and fighting the discrimination, it is important to ensure that migration respects human dignity and international governance,” he said.
FVP Dr. added that the need to build inclusive, sustainable migration policies with other countries that can benefit the country.
“Migration has development in it. Migration can boost economic growth through either remittances that are sent back by those who migrated or sharing skills,” he said.
He added that those in the working diaspora become a source of income as they send huge amounts of money back to the country.
Dr. Machar reiterated the need for inclusive policies that protect the rights of migrants.
“I would like to emphasize the following creating an inclusive migration governance system at the core of inclusive is that migrants have rights as stated and contribute positively to our societies” he added
“To develop such a system, we as a nation must focus on four areas: creating legal pathways, the migrants” he added.
He added that Many migrants face strict policies that leave them with few options such as forcing them to take unsafe and illegal routes.
Meanwhile, Angelina Teny, South Sudan’s Minister of Interior, said the national task force on migration that cut across ministries has continued to work hard to ensure there are good policies that protect migrants.
She expressed that South Sudan remains a hotspot and there is a need to have good migration governance, adding that the ministry would continue to ensure that migrants are protected as stated in the law.
On his part, Minister of Labor James Hoth expressed that South Sudan and the Ministry of Labor, in particular, have drafted a document meant to protect and manage migrants.
“As a way of strengthening labor migration governance, the Ministry of Labor, in collaboration with IOM, developed a draft labor migration policy 2024 framework to guide its action and protect migrant flows into the country for the purpose of work and those leaving the country in the same way,” Hoth said.
He expressed that South Sudan as a country faced a lot of challenges in regards to migration, adding that the summit would help the country and leaders in particular to develop inclusive and effective management policies.
He expressed that people migrate due to many reasons, and there is a need to protect migrants, as they have rights like others.
“Republic of South Sudan faces a lot of challenges in regards to migration governance and management; hence inter-ministerial submission is important to develop between management,” he said.