An initiative to help the government manage the flow of migrants into Trinidad and Tobago has been launched with the assistance of the UN Network on Migration TT (UNNM-TT).
Foreign and Caricom Affairs Minister Dr. Amery Browne said the number of migrants worldwide has grown dramatically as people flee famine, poverty, warfare, sometimes persecution, political turmoil, and a better life.
The Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration (GCM) was adopted worldwide in 2018.
Local and regional migration mechanisms were formed as part of this agreement under the responsibility of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).
“As countries that become migrant destinations expand, the need for coordinated and collaborative efforts among countries and organizations becomes more urgent than ever before. No one entity can manage migration globally, including the TT government, especially if the ultimate aim is to ensure the safety of migrant populations, the manageable accommodation, integration, and facilitation of new beginnings for those who had to leave their homeland, and support for systems in the countries they transit and the countries that receive them,” he said.
“I consider the work of the IOM, safeguarding the rights of migrants and providing assistance to source, transit, and destination countries, to be particularly crucial at this time. Collaboration between the PoS IOM and my ministry is, therefore, a matter of tremendous importance, constituting part of our commitment to regional integration efforts such as Caricom and regional instruments such as the GCM,” he added.
Meanwhile, UN resident coordinator Dennis Zulu said the UNNMTT would lead to a more coordinated approach to migration, as the project would take into account specific factors unique to TT.
IOM PoS project manager Zeke Beharry recognized that migration will not slow or stop, and therefore there need exists for strategic management.
Can this really be managed? Cause it sounds like something neither country can run from