ADDIS ABABA – Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed says an Italy-initiated global push to address irregular migration to have a clear action plan for tackling root causes at the countries of origin.
Italian PM Giorgia Meloni convened an International Conference on Development and Migration in Rome on Sunday.
Tackling irregular migration and the crime of human trafficking need to be addressed from the root causes, PM Abiy said, “through investments and clear actions for poverty alleviation in source countries”.
In the Horn of Africa, Ethiopia is a source, transit, and destination for migration. The PM Office says the country has already taken several policy, legal and institutional measures to enhance migration governance and address irregular migration and human trafficking.
Poverty, social and political instability, and restrictive legal migration routes often are the reasons for many falling into the traps of human traffickers.
“Mass irregular migration harms everyone except criminal organizations,” Meloni told the leaders in Rome, adding tackling the issue requires long-term partnerships with countries of origin.
“It must be based on respect and not on a paternalistic approach, on solidarity, on respect for each other’s sovereignty, on shared responsibility for upholding legality,” she said.
The Italian PM’s initiative aims at launching a roadmap to tackle migration flow, human traffickers’ criminal activities, and climate change. Rome seeks the roadmap to have “concrete and verifiable commitments” by the participating states.
Sunday’s meeting brought together leaders from states on the southern shore of the wider Mediterranean, Middle East and the Gulf, EU, and Africa.
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