The Kenyan state has continued to emphasize, as has all the focus on developments in technology and automation, the need to foster mobility of skilled labor into the global labor market, a move expected to facilitate increased remittances to the country and growth potential for the economy.
This endorsement of safe migration takes place as Kenya readies herself for the International Migrants Day that is marked every year on December December 18th.
Julius Bitok, the Principal Secretary for Immigration and Citizen Services, also stated that the need for migrant workers is vital for the socio-economic development of any nation through skill transfer as well as cultural exchanges.
He underscored the value of providing legal protection of migrants as the key for their welfare and success.
Bitok emphasized that Kenya is fully committed to developing a migration policy that would protect her citizens while enhancing the growth and stability of her neighbouring countries.
He further noted that migration complements Kenya’s development agenda and the aspirations of its people by bringing required skills, promoting multiculturalism and technology transfer.
The Government has guaranteed that there will be measures in place to ensure that migration and if i can add this phrase remains “safe, orderly and mutually beneficial to both migrant and the receiving country”.
In anticipation of International Migrants Day, Kenya worked together with the United Nations International Organization for Migration (IOM) to organize a two-kilometer walk in the country's capital Nairobi.
The purpose of the walk was to advocate for the rights of migrants and to canvas their regular migration channels. It underscored the best means of migration that nothing irregular is done and that a migrant is able to add value to their country of migration as well as their country of origin.
Bitok also pointed out that the country has made progress in implementing international provisions which protect the migrants from the region who are displaced by climate change, wars or poverty.
The target of these legal measures is to protect the migrant who may be at risk due to circumstances that they did not anticipate. This initiative emphasizes the role of Kenya in facilitating regional and global cooperation on the issue of migration.
The Principal Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs in Kenya, Roseline Njogu, stated that International Migrants Day is a day for Kenyans to remember that they need to harness the talents, creativity and entrepreneurship of migrants.
She argued that those aspects are crucial for nation building and development. Njogu stressed the fact that Kenya wants to legalize the status of any migrant who comes from the region or from far.
Further, the government makes sure that migrants do not lack basic provisions like education, health care, housing and even employment.
IOM Kenya Chief of Mission, Sharon Dimanche, noted the importance of multilateral cooperation of country governments and international bodies to support legal migration channels.
This collaboration is deemed as a key intervention in the skill deficit issue as well as promoting innovation, peace and social inclusion.
Thus, collaborating countries and institutions intend to address the issues of migration in a manner that is advantageous to both those countries where people move from and those that people move to.
International Migrants Day's theme in 2024 will be "Honoring the contributions of migrants and respecting their rights."
This theme emphasizes the benefits brought about by the migrants through their resettlement in host countries. It is also a call for the sense of contribution of migrants in economies, culture and society to be acknowledged.
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