The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has applauded the Regional Migrant Response Plan (RMRP) for the Horn of Africa and Yemen for humanitarian and development efforts.

IOM Director General, António Vitorino, singled out the AU-EU-UN Task Force on Libya. The task force combines the operational strengths of IOM and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) with the political tools of the African Union, European Union and United Nations.

He suggested that this was an example of how key partners can cooperate to address the challenges of mixed migration in a coherent manner.

“There is an urgent need to address root causes as we will continue to see an increase in both mixed and complex flows, which includes regular migrants, displaced people, as well as refugees who face sometimes similar vulnerabilities that make them prone to the activities of criminal networks and terrorist organizations,” said Vitorino.

He was speaking at the 32nd African Union (AU) Heads of State and Government Summit which was held in Ethiopia recently.

The summit coincided with the 50th anniversary of the 1969 Organization of African Unity (OAU) Convention on Refugees and the 10th anniversary of the 2009 AU Convention on Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), known as the Kampala Convention.

Vitorino further emphasised the need for capacity building at the regional, inter-regional, and global level to address both the structural and proximate factors that continue to drive forced displacement on the continent.

He further commended Africa for its support of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM). And he urged the AU to take the lead in bringing both the Global Compact for Migration and Global Compact on Refugees (GCR) to life, so that the human rights of refugees and migrants could continue to be upheld.

Vitorino also reaffirmed the IOM’s continued support for the continental body through, support for the establishment of an African Observatory on Migration to improve the generation of data and statistics on migratory flows on the continent.

AFP.