The Federal Government warmly received 36 Nigerian migrants who were deported from Sweden at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja yesterday. Officials from the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants, and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI) were present to facilitate their return, made possible through the International Returns and Reintegration Assistance (IRARA).<\/p>\n
Ambassador Catherine Udida, the Director of Migrant Affairs at the commission, shed light on the reasons behind the deportation, emphasizing that it typically occurs after migrants have been duly informed of visa expiration or overstaying. She clarified that if migrants refuse to return after being notified, the deportation process is initiated, distinguishing it from voluntary returns.<\/p>\n
In terms of the deportees’ future, Udida explained that a profiling process has been conducted to identify vulnerable individuals. They will be accommodated in hotels for a brief period to understand their specific challenges, followed by ongoing support and referrals.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will also send them to the various shelters we have and keep counseling them to accept the fact that they are back home, and they have opportunities to start their lives,” she said.<\/p>\n
While migrants who return voluntarily usually benefit from a livelihood support program, including training and stipends, those deported are entitled to government support to ensure their comfort. Udida emphasized the government’s responsibility in making the lives of these deportees as comfortable as possible.<\/p>\n
Roland Nwoha, the Country Director of IRARA, attributed the deportation to a delay in renewing resident permits after expiration. He highlighted the challenges faced by migrants returning from detention centers and the streets, emphasizing the difficulty of their reintegration.<\/p>\n
The returning deportees received dignity kits containing essential items such as diapers, toothpaste, shirts, towels, toothbrushes, slippers, creams, and bags. Each deportee was also provided with a stipend of N158,000, courtesy of IRARA, to support their initial resettlement in Nigeria.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Federal Government warmly received 36 Nigerian migrants who were deported from Sweden at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja yesterday. Officials from the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants, and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI) were present to facilitate their return, made possible through the International Returns and Reintegration Assistance (IRARA). Ambassador Catherine Udida, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":5186,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[172],"tags":[326,325],"class_list":["post-5184","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-irara","tag-ncfrmi"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5184","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5184"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5184\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5190,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5184\/revisions\/5190"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5186"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5184"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}