Migration Cooperation Programmes Nigeria and the Netherlands - Nigeria
Migration Cooperation Programmes Nigeria and the Netherlands
Cooperation on Migration Partnerships to Achieve Sustainable Solutions (COMPASS)
In 2021, the Netherlands and International Organisation for Migration (IOM) launched the COMPASS programme on migration cooperation in 14 countries. The programme aims to COMPASS aims to contribute to migration governance systems, multistakeholder cooperation, and services that facilitate safe, orderly, and regular migration as well as protect and uphold the rights of migrants. In Nigeria, the programme focuses on providing protection and reintegration assistance to victims of trafficking and returnees, countering trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants and raising awareness on the risks of irregular migration and legal alternatives. The second phase of COMPASS kicked of in January 2024 and has a duration of 4 years. Budget: EUR 4 mln. for Nigeria.
Awareness raising
Building on previous NL-funded programmes Migrants as Messengers and Trusted Sources, IOM works on the sensitization of communities on safe migration and equips returned migrants and community members to undertake awareness-raising activities. For example, in December 2022, the Owa-Alero community, Ika North-East, Delta launched a campaign informing the community on the risks of irregular migration and trafficking in persons. Through this campaign, people in the community obtained access to accurate information on safe migration pathways, as well as on available local opportunities.
Return and reintegration
IOM helps returnees, including victims of trafficking, return home safely and provides sustainable reintegration support. So far, 184 returnees in Nigeria have received full reintegration support via the COMPASS programme, while others are still in the process of receiving support. Take the example of Chinara. She left her home country of Nigeria for Mali in 2018. As the oldest child of deceased parents, she felt great pressure to take care of her three children and four younger siblings. She was told that she could earn $360 a month in Mali as a cleaner. Once there she was forced into prostitution. IOM helped her escape from this situation, return safely to Nigeria and rebuild her life.
Protection of Migrants (PROMIS)
This regional programme is implemented by the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and aims to improve capacity for investigating and prosecuting human trafficking and smuggling of migrants, improving regional and international cooperation regarding human trafficking and smuggling, and improving protection and human rights of migrants in countries of origin and during migration. The project applies a gender lens, and works to enhance capacities to apply a gender-sensitive approach to migration policies, migrant protection measures and law enforcement. Duration: 2020 2024, budget: ca. EUR 1,5 mln. for Nigeria.
Results
Under this project, UNODC provided technical support to NAPTIP in the final validation of the five-year National Action Plan against Trafficking in Persons in Nigeria through a series of workshops and technical meetings. Furthermore, training was provided to 25 NAPTIP investigators and prosecutors to increase the knowledge and skills to effectively identify trafficking in persons. Furthermore, a bootcamp was organized for state task forces to document and share experience on state response in combatting human trafficking in Nigeria, attended by 21 state task forces and 189 delegates from NAPTIP, FIAPP, Expertise France and IOM. A nationwide sensitization campaign was conducted on smuggling of migrants in Rivers and Oyo State.
Liaison Magistrate Initiative
The Initiative is one of the key successes of the PROMIS project. It aims to strengthen international judicial cooperation to counter trafficking in persons (TIP), smuggling of migrants (SOM) and related crimes through the deployment of African prosecutors to EU countries. The first deployment of a liaison magistrate to Europe was by a Nigerian prosecutor to Italy in 2018 proved successful as it provided the Italian and Nigerian prosecutors with a communication channel that was non-existent before the deployment. Following the positive results, other European countries have shown interest in taking part in the Initiative. As a result, in March 2019, UNODC supported the deployment of another Nigerian liaison magistrate to Spain. In addition, Liaison Magistrates from Ethiopia, Eritrea, Niger, Libya and Sudan were appointed by their central authorities. The impact of the Initiative is evident from the number of cooperation requests that were received from 2018 to 2021 through the deployed prosecutors. During the implementation period, 57 cases were transmitted by Italy and Spain through the liaison magistrates. Of these, 41 cases concern TIP, 1 case on SOM, and 6 cases are interrelated. Several investigations have been completed, resulting in the resolution of cases and, in four instances, in international arrest warrants. Nationwide sensitization on smuggling of migrants in Rivers and Oyo State - UNODC Participants of the training on case management practices on 3 December 2021 – UNODC Nigeria.
School anti-Trafficking Education and Advocacy Project Nigeria (STEAP)
This project, implemented by ICMPD, aims to support the Government of Nigeria, specifically Edo, Delta, Ogun, Enugu and Benue States in the fight against human trafficking through increased awareness within the school community. The project will further ensure the reintegration of returned trafficking in persons (TiP) victims of school age, into the school system, while providing specialized psychosocial support to victims below 16 years of age. Older victims will be referred to NAPTIP or other TiP organizations for specialized care. Duration: 2023-2028, budget: EUR 5,5 mln.
Cross-border Cooperation between Nigeria andNiger on countering Human Trafficking
This programme, implemented by the International Center for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD), aims to strengthen the coordination of the anti-trafficking response in Niger and Nigeria, by establishing a multi-agency framework for cooperation between the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) in Nigeria and the Agence Nationale de Lute contre la Traite des Personnes (ANLTP) in Niger. Duration: 2021-2023, budget: EUR 1,5 mln.
Joint Technical Working Group
In the framework of the project, a Joint Technical Working Group (JTWG) has been established for the purpose of identifying common priorities and coordinated interventions. At the launch of the project, a trip was organized to Agadez given its importance as a transit route for victims of trafficking (VoT). The mission team visited local communities where migrants live, and majority of the people encountered were young Nigeria women and children. The field visit involved officials of both Nigeria and Niger who were members of the Joint Technical Working Group newly inaugurated during the project launch. Meanwhile, several subcommittees have been established as the implementing arm of the JTWG.
Memorandum of Understanding
In November 2021, a Memorandum of Understanding has been signed between the governments of Nigeria and Niger, outlining key areas for cooperation in the prevention and detection of trafficking in persons (TiP), protection, repatriation and rehabilitation of victims. Since then, there have been a series of joint activities and consultations aimed at increasing the operational interface between the two lead agencies responsible for the execution of the MoU, i.e. ANLTP from the Niger side and NAPTIP from the Nigeria side.
Capacity building
As part of the project, tailor-made capacity building activities are implemented in both countries, covering among others mechanisms for victim assistance, TiP sensitization and advocacy, return and integration and transnational referral. As concluded by members of the JTWG this has enabled more capacity to launch discrete investigations and prosecutions that require cross-border cooperation. They expect that the number of perpetrator convictions will continue to increase over time as a result of: i) improved communication between crossborder counterparts, ii) trainings made available to personnel from both countries on prosecution and iii) access to human and material resourcing, which will ideally support access to protection measures for VoTs and informants.
Nigerian Immigration Service – Training Strategy Implementation
This project, implemented by IOM, aims to contribute to enhanced identification and investigation of human trafficking and migrant smuggling cases in the border management context, through a human rights-based approach. To this end, the project works on enhancing the capacity of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) and the Port Health Services (PHS) to regularize processing of individuals passing international borders by applying legal operational and technical tools, and best practices in border management. Duration: 2020-2023, budget: EUR 2,2 mln.
Results
So far, two training curricula have been updated and several joint training efforts have been implemented. One Personnel Training Resource Centre has been established in Lagos, and four others have been renovated at NIS Anambra, Edo, Kano and Ogun States Commands. Throughout the project, specific attention is given to human rights and gender principles.