BY Patience Gbeze
Accra, Dec. 22, GNA – The African Regional Organisastion of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC-Africa) has expressed appreciation to migrants and migrant workers worldwide for their services to humanity and contributions to economic growth.
A statement issued in Accra and signed by Mr Kwasi Adu-Amankwah, the General Secretary of ITUC-Africa, to commemorate the 2022-ITUC-Africa International Migrants Day, reiterated the rights of migrants and the fact that every migrant’s life matters.
“We use this occasion to reiterate that migrants’ rights are human rights and that the life of every migrant matters. We remain concerned that 51,000 migrants have died over the last eight years, according to the International Organisation on Migration (IOM), and the status of thousands remain unknown.”
It said beyond those figures were persons whose hopes and dreams had been terminated abruptly.
“For those that have simply disappeared, their families, their loved ones, and communities live in a continuous state of apprehension, distraught and the inability to bring closure on account that their relations’ status is unknown,” the statement said.
Those developments affirmed the position of the ITUC-Africa that the world must deal with the crises of the deficit of effective migration governance and the lack of global solidarity.
It noted that migrant workers’ socio-economic and cultural contributions to the origin, transit, host economies and communities were real and valuable.
“We consider it fitting to celebrate these young and old men and women who work in offices, shops, farms, factories, homes and enterprises far away from their homes and families to contribute to economies and to earn honest living.”
“These migrant workers deserve our commendation and protection. Their human and labour rights must be consciously respected and preserved, and they should not be discriminated against and exploited.”
It said African trade unions would continue to advocate the protective guarantees for those migrant workers, including working with governments, employer associations, and other stakeholders to achieve that goal.
Migrants and migrant workers need to feel and enjoy the empathy of humanity and solidarity.
The nature of that solidarity, the statement said, would mean continuous work to increase standards ratification, domestication, application and enforcement.
“It will also mean we double our efforts to achieve better recruitment outcomes.”
GNA