The East African Legislative Assembly (Eala) has called for finalization of laws and policies that would fast-track regional integration initiatives.
These include the draft e-Immigration Policy,the East African Community (EAC) Labour Migration Policy and the EAC Refugee Management Policy.
"Absence of such laws and policies is a matter of concern for regional integration initiatives, especially cross border movements", they observed.
They said in their report tabled before the virtual session of the House that non-enforcement of the proposed mechanisms was a matter of concern.
The report was presented by the Committee of Regional Affairs and Conflict Resolution to the Assembly currently holding committee meetings and plenary sessions.
Lack of enforcement will undoubtedly further delay the partner states from implementing key commitments under the Common Market Protocol.
The draft e-Immigration policy would enable users to request Immigration services electronically without having to appear physically at the Immigration desks.
These are applications for entry visas, residence permits, passports and even exit permission which can also be done electronically.
On the other hand, the EAC Migration Policy entails formulating a common approach to labour migration management.
It would also forge a consensus on the principles to be added into the regional policy framework on labour migration policies.
The proposed Refugee Management Policy aims at putting in place collaborative measures aimed at promoting the rights of refugees.
These are to include the protection of forcibly displaced people and regulatory regimes affecting their movements and immigration status, among others.
EAC has one of the largest concentrations of refugees in the world, currently estimated to be over two million.
Majority of them are from strife-torn countries neighbouring the bloc, specifically those in the Horn of Africa and Great Lakes regions.
The bulk of the population - about 1.4 million - is in Uganda, most of them originating from South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Burundi.
Hundreds of thousands of others are from Ethiopia, DRC, Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea while those within the EAC are from Burundi and South Sudan.
Tanzania is said to have the highest proportion of migrants without legal documentations.
Currently the refugees proper hosted by Tanzania are estimated to be 340,000, with most being from Burundi and DRC, some having been there since the 1970s.
The House Committee to decisively act on the delayed legislations that it said would ensure interconnectivity of border management systems.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment