By Our Reporter
President of the Journalists International Forum For Migration (JIFORM), Dr Ajibola Abayomi on Tuesday during the JIFORM Intercontinental Migration Summit held at Medgar Evers College (MEC), City University, New York City City (CUNY) protested the visa denial by the American embassy in Nigeria stopping many members of the forum from attending the summit.
Dr Ajibola who described the action of the embassy as “unfair parameters” argued that it was a set back the JIFORM was forced to cope with.
Lamenting the visa refusal, he said “It is a pity; I would have been physically present to show my appreciation if not for the unfair parameters of the American embassy in Nigeria that denied my humble self and other 12 distinguished members of the JIFORM visas to travel to New York.
“If we must not discuss in fear and must fear to discuss, I think the decision was unfair and a great set back at this point for us. We have been forced to accept that in good faith. We have provided all needed information and facts, yet the consular at the embassy acted to the contrary. This will however not deter from foregoing ahead.”
He said time had come for issues relating for migration to be taken seriuos because of the positive implication for the economy.
“Migration has prospects. It is a serious issue. It is clear to all the nations of the world whether developing, developed and third world countries that there are benefits from it. The 2020 report of the IOM estimated that there were around 281 million international migrants in the world in 2020, which equates to 3.6 per cent of the global population.
“In 2019, alone a total of USD 714 billion in international remittances were transferred globally by migrants and Diaspora back to origin countries as reported by the World Bank. To further underscore the import role of migration in the economy, officially recorded remittance flows to low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) were expected to increase by 4.2 percent in 2021 to reach $630 billion.
“Available data reflect an overall increase in remittances in recent decades, from $126 billion in 2000 to $702 billion in 2020. Despite predictions of a large decline in international remittances due to COVID-19, 2020 saw only a slight drop (2.4%) from the 2019 global total. It is therefore incumbent for the media to be fair to the migrants by reporting issues around them with accuracy and human face devoid of hate speech or stigmatization.”
Speakers who also advocate better attention for migration governance at the summit included the former minister of Immigration and Citizenship in Canada, Gerry Weiner; Minister of Labour and Social Security, Sierra Leone, Dr Alpha Osman Timbo; Dr Princess Kabuki Ocansey, a member of the African Union Labour Migration Advisory Committee.
Both Timbo and Ocansey also expressed displeasure over the visa refusal by the American embassy against the JIFORM members.
“I want to thank JIFORM for this honor and to specifically applaud Dr. Abayomi and to commend him for his tireless efforts in pushing the Migration agenda forward, especially in the midst of the covid crises- lockdown or no lockdown – he has been out there from Canada to the USA to Africa, a voice in the wilderness – crying out to save many lives! It breaks my heart, that his US visa was denied. We appeal to the US Government to support this noble effort going forward” Ocansey said.
The full speech of the JIFORM president is below.
TEXT OF SPEECH DELIVERED BY DR AJIBOLA ABAYOMI, THE PRESIDENT OF THE JOURNALISTS INTERNATIONAL FORUM FOR MIGRATION (JIFORM) AT THE INAUGURAL JIFORM INTERCONTINENTAL MIGRATION SUMMIT WITH THE THEME: APPRAISING HUMAN MOBILITY: PROSPECTS AND CHALLENGES OF LABOUR MIGRATION POST COVID-19 ERA HELD AT MEDGAR EVERS COLLEGE (MEC) CITY UNIVERSITY NEWYORK (CUNY) AT BROOKLYN ON NOVEMBER 2, 2022.
Protocol
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen.
Human mobility is the fulcrum of the global economy. The theme of this summit was carefully chosen to highlight the importance and the need for a review of migration policies in several regions of the world especially to the advantage of the migrants that are economic developers.
Migration is a human right issue. The Journalists International Forum For Migration-JIFORM since its inception in 2019 has shown tremendous commitment to fight migration menaces and challenges like human trafficking, smuggling of migrants, sexual slavery, irregular migration and promote regular migration with quality information to make labour migration safe and rewarding for all.
Since 2019 the JIFORM has been organizing several trainings and capacity building for journalists and other stakeholders. The JIFORM in partnership with the NEKOTECH Center of Excellence, Ghana organized the maiden African Migration Summit in Accra between February 25-26, 2021 and initiated the bi-Annual West African Media Migration Summit in Lome, Togo between June 22-23, 2021.
In December 2019, the JIFORM was part of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) International world migration summit for the media in Tunisia where a charter on migration reportage was drafted.
We have organized several trainings and workshops from which over 3000 Journalists and other participants have benefitted across the continents. In October this year, we were in Toronto, Canada for the 3Rd JIFORM Global Migration summit hosted by the Abedorc Productions Inc.
This JIFORM Intercontinental Summit is therefore committed to promoting academic and migration robust policy inputs on safe, orderly, and regular migration among nations and individuals across the globe regarding human development and quality information as contained in the United Nations Millennium Sustainable Development Goal(SDG).
It is our wish from to keep this summit as annual event in America to continue to serve as an avenue to enhance media professionals and other stakeholders’ capacity on migration matters in partnership with the Prestigious Medgar Evers College (MEC) of the foremost Urban City University in New York as a catalyst to further facilitate networking among migration advocates, institutions, and government towards promoting migrants’ rights, gender sensitivity and migration governance.
We so much cherish the support of the MEC for the JIFORM to actualize the four- dream of staging a Continental Migration summit. On behalf of the JIFORM, a global media movement founded in 2019 in Nigeria with over 300 journalists and other migration advocates as members, we thank the management and staff of MEC.
The Dean, Dr JoAnn Rolle and her entire team have been wonderful, especially Ms Raquel Bennett. Professor Byron Price, a friend, a mentor and a bridge builder, please accept our appreciation, without you, this summit would not have been possible. You provided the link between the JIFORM and the MEC.
It is a pity; I would have been physically present to show my appreciation if not for the unfair parameters of the American embassy in Nigeria that denied my humble self and other 12 distinguished members of the JIFORM visas to travel to New York. If we must not discuss in fear and must fear to discuss, I think the decision was unfair and a great set back at this point for us. We have been forced to accept that in good faith. We have provided all needed information and facts, yet the consular at the embassy acted to the contrary. This will however not deter from foregoing ahead.
Migration has prospects. It is a serious issue. It is clear to all the nations of the world whether developing, developed and third world countries that there are benefits from it. The 2020 report of the IOM estimated that there were around 281 million international migrants in the world in 2020, which equates to 3.6 per cent of the global population.
In 2019, alone a total of USD 714 billion in international remittances were transferred globally by migrants and Diaspora back to origin countries as reported by the World Bank.
To further underscore the import role of migration in the economy, officially recorded remittance flows to low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) were expected to increase by 4.2 percent in 2021 to reach $630 billion. This follows an almost record recovery of 8.6 percent according to the World Bank’s latest Migration and Development Brief. With the huge number of migrants there is a need to evolve a better system to manage them to avoid a disastrous situation. They are central to economic growth.
Available data reflect an overall increase in remittances in recent decades, from $126 billion in 2000 to $702 billion in 2020. Despite predictions of a large decline in international remittances due to COVID-19, 2020 saw only a slight drop (2.4%) from the 2019 global total. It is therefore incumbent for the media to be fair to the migrants by reporting issues around them with accuracy and human face devoid of hate speech or stigmatization.
I am particularly happy that we are in an academic environment where inputs and research from the MEC would help to further improve the capacities of all of us, especially for those of us who are the journalists. Let me state the readiness of the JIFORM to work closely with the MEC on different research areas on migration matters. Our door is open and we are willing to learn from your expertise and in return we shall also bring to bear our professional instincts to add value to your institution.
I want to seize this opportunity to thank all the speakers and participants at this summit for honoring us with their time. To the awardees, HE President Maada Bio of Sierra Leone, and his distinguished Minister of Labour and Social Security, Hon Dr Alpha Timbo, thank you for being the pillars promoting ideal labour migration with well structured decent job policies in Africa.
The JIFORM also acknowledges with appreciation the role of the IOM towards encouraging journalists working on migration. The United Nations agency has been very supportive of the JIFORM activities over the years.
Her Excellency Dr Princess Ocansey, Honourable Gerry Weiner, the former Minister of Immigration in Canada, Dr Tunji Asaolu, the special Nigerian Envoy to the African Union, Pastor Solomon. A. Folorunsho, and his Home for the Needy team from Nigeria and Germany, speakers from America and other nations, indeed the JIFORM cherishes this show of solidarity to promote migration matters.
I want to end this speech by commending once again the MEC team put together to work with the JIFORM on this summit with special mention of Ms Raquel Bennett; I hope to see you someday in the US to personally thank you for your untiring efforts.
We are ready to commence preparations as early as December 2022 to prepare for the JIFORM 2023 Intercontinental Migration Summit. I believe we can, so yes, we are ready. We can always do better.
To everyone, I could not mention, kindly accept my esteemed regards.
Thank you.
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