IOM and Mauritian Chair in Office of the Global Forum on Migration
and Development (GFMD) will next week convene a Migration Dialogue
for Southern Africa (MIDSA) technical meeting on enhancing
intra-regional labour migration towards social and economic
development in the Southern African Development Community (SADC)
region.

The two-day and a half day event, which opens on 27th August in
Balaclava, Mauritius, will bring together Permanent Secretaries
from the SADC nations to discuss ways to optimize the benefits of
migration in the region and beyond.

The meeting in Mauritius will cover topics such as the creation
of legal frameworks and policies on regional cooperation and
challenges in managing labour migration in the SADC region.

It will also put forward concrete ideas on addressing the
challenges of credible migration data collection, interpretation
and utilization in the region, and focus on regional and bilateral
best practices on managing human mobility and labour migration,
including the facilitation of circular labour migration,
particularly in the context of high youth unemployment and skills
shortages.

“MIDSA has created a platform for migration-related issues
to be discussed in an informal setting, increasing awareness of
both the challenges and best practices in migration management in
fields including migration and health, human trafficking, border
management, and the facilitated movement of persons. This
conference shows there is a commitment to move towards an
action-oriented agenda,” says IOM Regional Director for
Southern and East Africa Bernardo Mariano.

MIDSA is a consultative process for SADC member states (Angola,
Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lesotho, Madagascar,
Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa,
Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe) initiated in 1999
allowing members informally exchange views on migration issues.

All SADC states are today exposed to migration either as source,
transit or destination countries. While some migratory movement in
the region is related to conflict and insecurity, most is economic
and involves people looking for work and better lives.

While there are some major policy concerns and challenges,
including the protection of the rights of migrant workers and
effective responses to irregular migration, well managed labour
migration flows lead to mutual benefits for both migrants and
states.

Remittances can also contribute significantly to national
development in sending countries. This raises policy issues
including the lowering of transfer costs and encouraging the use of
remittances in sustainable development.

"There is a need for collaboration between SADC states on
creating legal channels for labour migrants and harmonizing
immigration policy and legislation across the SADC region," notes
Bernardo Mariano.

For more information, please contact

Devi Seetharam

IOM Mauritius

Tel. +230 213 3304

Email: "mailto:dseetharam@iom.int">dseetharam@iom.int