The DRC Ministries of Information and Interior, and Immigration Service, the Belgian Embassy to Kinshasa, the "Maison Schengen" – a consular office for Schengen countries – and the NGO Afric'Action have joined IOM to launch the second phase of the "Keba na ba Ngulistes" or "Beware of Traffickers" Campaign.

The awareness raising campaign, which is funded by the Belgian government seeks to highlight the pitfalls of irregular migration in Kinshasa and the coastal province of Bas-Congo.

Based on the success of an initial outreach campaign undertaken from October 2009 to January 2010 and targeting the Eastern Kinshasa region, IOM was asked to carry out a second phase of activities covering the whole of Kinshasa and Bas-Congo provinces. The Belgian government which provided initial funding for the campaign is also supporting the expanded activities from September through December 2010.

The "Keba na ba Ngulistes" campaign uses theatre productions by NGO partner Afric'Action as well as posters, flyers, and radio and TV broadcasts to raise awareness on irregular migration. The programme, which is part of regional IOM counter-trafficking efforts, aims to reach an audience of five million people.

Specific themes addressed by the campaign include: the importance of orderly and regulated migration systems; proper immigration procedures such as obtaining a visa and other related documents; the dangers associated with irregular migration; the realities that await migrants abroad conveyed through testimonies from returned migrants and information regarding voluntary return and reintegration assistance available to migrants.

The Afric'Action play, performed live and broadcast for groups of youth, students, religious and NGO leaders, portrays a family who has sold their house in order to send their eldest son to Europe using false documents. A younger son remains, dreaming of a life abroad, until his brother is returned to the DRC and recounts the hardships he faced as an irregular migrant.

Speaking at the launch for the new campaign, IOM Chief of Mission for the DRC, Michael Tschanz, noted: "This campaign illustrates how irregular migrants often fall victim to fraudulent activities as well as the plight of stranded migrants who spend months and years in countries of transit often suffering great hardship and abuse."

Figures on the number of Congolese nationals abroad vary greatly depending on the source, from three to six million, according to IOM's recently released migration profile for the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Official figures concerning Congolese nationals identified as being in an irregular situation abroad are not available, with data found only selectively for some countries. However, data from European Union member states show that in 2007, 659 irregular migrants from the DRC were arrested in the 27 countries of the European Union, and 299 were expelled.  

For more information contact:

Emery-Egide Kianga
IOM Kinshasa
Tel: +243 998 348 349
E-mail: ekianga@iom.int