If you must ‘japa’ do it right, or else…, Nigerian govt counsels citizens against illegal migration

Amid the spate of requests from Nigerians on daily basis to leave the country for abroad, the Federal Government on Monday warned of illegal migration activities, citing its disastrous consequences.

The government advised Nigerians poised to leave the country to do it within the confines of the migration laws.

The Director Economic Trade and Investment in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Akinremi Bolaji, who stated this in Abuja during the launch of EuroAfrica Polish Language Center, condemned the attitude of many youths migrating abroad without basic skills.

Bolaji noted that the lack of preparedness on the part of Nigerians travelling abroad was responsible for the bad treatment they get there.

He also decried the rate of illegal travelling in the country, adding the records of Nigerians experiencing bad treatment abroad were not properly documented.

Bolaji said: “The government does not encourage irregular migration. But we do understand that it is part of fundamental human rights to move. That is why government places emphasis on ensuring that whoever desires to move, does that within the remit of law.

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“Countries want what you have, but they just want you to come legally or documented. And that is why you need registered services like EuroAfrica, that are known with the government and regulatory organisations to assist you.

“Such organisations can organise the right pathway for you to travel. But you see when you say ‘Japa’ if you go to another man’s country without entering the place properly, you will be ill-treated and the law will find it very difficult to support you. This is why we are raising it loud and clear that nobody is trying to impede anyone’s freedom of travel but, you must have something, like a basic knowledge.”

“All the records of ill-treatment that we receive is because most of our people did not properly migrate. If you are documented at the Ministry of Labour and Employment, when you are traveling and you are documented by National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons and Other Related Matters and we know the employer who is the agent that is taking you away, then if your host mistreats you, we will be able to trace such host. But when you travel illegally then it becomes a challenge.”

Bolaji added that the initiative was devoted to strengthening language exchange in order to grow economic activities between countries.

“So rather than encouraging ‘Japa’, this initiative is going to encourage proper regular migration, labour migration and encourage record keeping and government would be able to know the number of citizens that have gone out, where they are, in which industry are they serving, and who is their employer”, he concluded.

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