Over 100 youths in Waterloo were educated by the Advocacy Network Against Illegal Migration (ANAIM) on the risks and perils associated with irregular migration on Friday, August 20.
In his opening remarks, Daniel Koroma, Program Manager, ANAIM, stated that migration is most prevalent among the country’s youth population. For this reason, he said, the organization was focusing on youth, both male and female, to make sure they weren’t being persuaded to travel using unethical means.
He said that migration is fine when someone has the right documents and travels through the proper channels and that migration itself is never a bad thing. He also indicated that they weren’t running any anti-migration campaigns.
According to Koroma, those who choose to travel in an unauthorized manner are especially susceptible to abuse, exploitation, and discrimination. According to him, these migrants run the risk of being taken advantage of by criminal organizations engaged in activities like migrant smuggling and human trafficking, among other crimes that seriously violate the human rights of their victims.
According to him, irregular migration encompasses human trafficking, unlawful border crossing, smuggling of people across borders, and overstaying on the national territory after the allotted time for a legal stay has passed.
The Ministry of Social Welfare has provided funding to the Advocacy Network Against Irregular Migration, according to Sheku Bangura, the organization’s executive director, to help raise awareness of the risks associated with irregular migration among the general public, in particular.
Sheku Bangura, executive director of the Advocacy Network Against Irregular Migration, said in a statement that the ministry of Social Welfare has provided funding for his organization to carry out public education campaigns about the risks of irregular migration, particularly among young people.
According to Bangura, he once embarked on an unauthorized migration through Temple Run, which he regarded as a life-threatening risk with a 90% probability of death. Bangura said, “I once participated in a temple run while being duped by friends and neighbours, and you know that he who feels it knows it. So I will recommend everyone to not do that venture at all.”
The Executive Director pointed out that despite Sierra Leone’s economic difficulties, which are shared by other African countries, there are chances for young people to explore in the fields of agriculture, skills training, enterprises, and other fields.
According to the head of ANAIM, the goal of the sensitization program is to empower people to make wise choices before leaving Sierra Leone. He came to the conclusion that between 2014 and 2018, over 30,000 irregular migrants perished or vanished, according to a report by the International Organization for Migration.