A Postdoctoral Researcher, Dr. (Mrs.) Sarah Adeyinka, has appealed to government, Civil Society Organisation (CSOs)I and stakeholders to ensure migrant returnees access reintegration support.

Adeyinka who made the appeal while speaking at a reintegration project dissemination event organised in Lagos affirmed that everybody has a role to play as reintegration is not to be left to the government alone.

She also stressed the need for both the government and society to provide mental and physical support to the returnees.

While stating that some of these migrant returnees face a lot of social and economic challenges, she said, “But the key part is also, in Nigeria, looking at the community and the society, making sure that people know what’s going on, educating people, enlightening people, so that when people come back, the stigma, the discrimination, is not there, or at least it’s less than it is.”

Identifying low mental health support as one of the greatest challenges faced by the returnees, Adeyinka said: “I think in Nigeria as a whole, the number of mental health providers we have is not a lot, and it’s an area where it’s growing, it’s increasing, but we need a lot more, and we need it without the stigma, because people are like this one has a problem with his head. They are not normal.’ We should not be discriminating or stigmatising people because of their mental health challenges.”

On his part, the Southwest Zonal Coordinator for the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants, and Internally Displaced Persons, Alex Oturu, explained that the reintegration project aims to ascertain reintegration support that comes to migrants.

He emphasised the need for collaborations among government agencies, civil society organisations (CSOs), and stakeholders in achieving the set objectives.

“If we look at the documents in place, there’s a standard operating procedure for return, readmission, and reintegration, which is a national document developed by the federal government in collaboration with all the relevant stakeholders, whether they are MDAs, civil society, or international partners, and then you will see that everybody has a role to play.

Reintegration is not to be left to the government alone, but everybody can play their part, and it all leads towards ensuring that our brothers and sisters who were either trafficked or have been forced to return can have a soft landing and access to reintegration support,” he said.

Oturu lauded the findings of the project, describing it as a well-done job. “The project is basically looking at reintegration support that comes to migrants and then the larger reintegration governance structures of government, and trying to see and ascertain whether returned migrants are trafficked or vulnerable. And I think it was a very well-done job that was able to capture the experiences of returnees as well as their family members, and then also to have an understanding of what the various stakeholders are doing, whether the government, MDAs, or civil society organisations,” he added.

On her part, the Director of Programmes at LEAP Africa and also Director in the Corporate Humanitarian Aid Foundation, Amabelle Nwakanma, while admitting that some returnees face difficulties in accessing reintegration benefits, advised Nigerians to jettison the idea of embarking on irregular travel, which exposes them to untold hardship, threats to their lives, and falling victim to trafficking.

“The reason why there’s so much suffering happening is that most of these are irregular migrants. They go through the smuggling route or are trafficked, so because of that, they don’t have access to some of the benefits and privileges that the person who went legally and regularly has. So the goal is to tell people you have a right to want to travel, you have a right to want to migrate; it’s your human right. But do it the right way. Don’t be tempted to do it the wrong way, which can alter and mess up your entire life and even the lives of your family members that you’ve left behind. So do it the right way, if you must do it,” she said.

She called for more sensitisation of the Nigerian public against traveling abroad through irregular channels. “Nevertheless, for those who may not have the opportunities to do it are not there, they should be sensitised to the damage and the negative impact of the way you hear some of these harrowing stories. If you’re a person like me, you would not want to go near such an example. You know, you want to avoid it, but some of these stories are not being told as well. “So, it’s important that those who are here also get to hear some of these stories, so they too can pause and say, ‘No, I don’t want that for my life.’ And then they’re also shown a better way if they must go, a better way to do so. So, that’s my recommendation.”