The International Labour Organisation has identified domestic, health and construction workers from Nigeria as highly involved in labour migration.
This was revealed by ILO labour migration specialist, Inviolable Chinyangara at the consultative workshop to define a roadmap for development of a Trade Union Labour Migration Policy in Nigeria.
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Due to the search for greener pastures by citizens of developing countries, international labour migration has become a growing policy priority.
The need for labour market institutions including trade unions to respond equitably to the interests of countries of origin and countries of destination, as well as to the interests of migrant workers, has become necessary
This workshop of labour unions, government and ILO, insists that effective policies must be based on substantial evidence, including the number of international migrant workers involved, their characteristics and their employment patterns.
For the ILO, rights based approaches should take into consideration labour market needs and let it cover all migrant workers irrespective of nationality and immigration status.
In Nigeria, government has intensified its roles in Migration Governance and has developed two key policies; the National Migration Policy and the National Policy on Labour Migration.
The participants agree that labour migration poses a number of challenges for Africa, raising concerns over skills drain, discrimination and social exclusion. They note that labour migration is often embarked upon because of lack of opportunities for decent work at home, violations of human rights, bad governance, political intolerance and insecurity.
Also, prominent among the push factors are perception and falsehood stories of greener pastures in destination countries.
(Editor: Terverr Tyav)
