Ethiopian Ambassador Berhanu Tsegay made the call during a forum between member states of the Intergovernmental Authority on East African Development (IGAD) and Saudi Arabia, meticulously organized to deal with the migration crisis and other regional problems.
He warned of the necessity of responding now to the unprecedented influx of immigrants, which is the cause and consequence of other obstacles to economic development and social growth of our peoples, such as drought, humanitarian crises and terrorism.
He stressed that the massive and unsafe movement to the Ethiopia-Djibouti-Yemen road, is an example of the insecurity and the social, economic and health damages of irregular displacement, and we know that it is not the only road that exists in the region.
He insisted that we are talking about a very serious problem, and considered it “impossible to eradicate it, unless governments and institutions in this African region develop joint strategies and pool resources to tackle migration at its origin.”
Tsegay acknowledged the efforts of the Ethiopian and Saudi authorities to repatriate tens of thousands of Ethiopians from that Asian country, through a process that began on March 30.
According to the authority, its executive secretary, Workneh Gibehu, participated in the meeting. Djibouti’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Mahmoud Ali Youssef. And the rest of the ambassadors of the member states of the organization and a Saudi delegation.
The bloc comprises Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti (headquarters), Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan and Uganda. Together, they occupy about 5.2 million square kilometers and add more than 261 million residents.
In the region, which is one of the world’s poorest countries, there are approximately 12.3 million displaced people, as well as about 4.5 million refugees and asylum seekers.
The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the successor to the Intergovernmental Authority on Drought and Development, was established in 1996 to deal with problems in the so-called Horn of Africa, including conflict and political stability.
M / Raj
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