Government of Japan, Tanzania and the International Organization of Migration (IOM), launched a US$2,400,000 initiative to provide assistance to irregular migrants and migrant children.

Remarks given by H.E. Mr. Masaki Okada (Ambassador of Japan).

Handshake between Hon. Mr. Shamsi Vuai Nahodha (Minister for Home Affairs) and H.E. Mr. Masaki Okada (Ambassador of Japan).

Hon. Mr. Shamsi Vuai Nahodha (Minister for Home Affairs) and H.E. Mr. Masaki Okada (Ambassador of Japan) inspecting one of the donated vehicles.

11 vehicles and 3 patrolling boats handed over to the Ministry of Home Affairs from the Government of Japan through IOM.

 

 

 

 

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Dar es Salaam

In 2011 the Government of Japan and the International Organization of Migration (IOM), in collaboration with the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania, launched a US$2,400,000 initiative to provide assistance to irregular migrants and migrant children, mostly Somalis and Ethiopians stranded within the borders of Tanzania.

On 18th January 2012, on the grounds of the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Honourable Minister of Home Affairs, Mr. Shamsi Vuai Nahodha, His Excellency the Ambassador of Japan to Tanzania, Mr. Masaki Okada, and the IOM Country Chief of Mission, Mr. Damien Thuriaux participated in the ceremony for handing over boats and pickups donated by the Government of Japan to the Tanzanian Police and Immigration to assist in patrolling sea and land borders and rescuing migrants in need.

The donation is part of the initiative to support the efforts of the Tanzanian Government to address the high number of migrants travelling irregularly from the Horn of Africa to South Africa and crossing Tanzania.

The ceremony was also attended by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Mr. Mbarak Abdulwakil, the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Said Mwema, the Principal Commissioner of Immigration Services, Mr. Magnus Ulungi and the regional heads of Police and Immigration from Lindi, Mbeya, Mtwara and Tanga.

The Tanzanian regions most affected by these flows of migrants are those in the South, Mbeya, Mtwara, Lindi, and Tanga on the coast of Tanzania, which are targets of this initiative. The activities also involved the construction and extension of 8 Police and Immigration premises where the migrants can now be hosted and screened.

Thanks to the Japanese contribution, new premises for Police and Immigration were built in Kilambo, on the border with Mozambique, Kilwa Masoko, in Lindi region, and Police and Immigration existing premises were extended in Mbeya, Kyela and Tanga. 
 
IT equipment was also provided to Immigration and Police to undertake capture of biographic and biometrics data of the migrants, so that it will be possible to record and detect all the migrants passing through those border posts.

Special attention was devoted to children travelling in those groups of irregular migrants, amongst which there are also women, children, asylum seekers, and sick people. The Japan/IOM initiative donated equipment such as solar panels, water tanks, beds and electrical domestic appliances, to 5 shelters for children, where the children found in groups of irregular migrants can now receive safe hospitality instead of being sent to prisons.

The Japanese contribution helped also the voluntary return of 912 Ethiopian migrants who were detained in Tanzanian prisons. Since mid-2009, 2,327 Ethiopian migrants stranded in Tanzania have been assisted to voluntarily return home and reintegrate into their communities through the funding from the Government of Japan.

Based on the figures provided by Immigration Department, since the beginning of 2011, more than 1,700 Ethiopian and Somali migrants have been arrested while crossing irregularly through Tanzania.

A study conducted and published by IOM on 2009, “In Pursuit of the Southern Dream”, indicated that approximately 17,000-20,000 male irregular migrants from the Horn of Africa are smuggled every year through Tanzania and other countries on route to South Africa and beyond, though some never reached final destinations.