EAC NOW TO SUPPORT ASYLUM SEEKERS

 

The East African Community (EAC) has committed itself to support asylum seekers within the region. 

Conducive conditions will also be sought for voluntary repatriation and sustainable reintegration of the affected communities.

The Arusha-based regional body will execute this in collaboration with the United Nations Refugees Agency (UNHCR).

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to the effect was signed by the two organizations in Arusha last week.

It was inked by the EAC secretary general Peter Mathuki and the UNHCR regional director for East, Horn and Great Lakes Region Ms Clementine Nkweta-Salami.

"The agreement seeks to address issues on refugee and asylum seekers in need of international protection", Dr. Mathuki said.

It also aims to  promote the rights of East Africans to "seek and enjoy asylum for persons in need of international protection in accordance with international refugee law".

Dr. Mathuki reiterated EAC’s commitment to advancing comprehensive regional solutions to forced displacement situations impacting the region. 

“The MOU seeks to enable the bloc to harmonize management of refugee affairs by the partner states by applying the best practices of international refugee law,” he stated.

The MoU is a follow-up to another one that was signed between the two parties way back in 2010.

The EAC Common Market Protocol underlines protection of refugees and internally displaced people (IDP), including children.

Ms. Nkweta-Salami said that UNHCR would cooperate with the EAC in the promotion and protection of human rights for the forcibly displaced persons in the region.

This would be done through "appropriate collaboration" with partner states' National Human Rights Commission and other human rights bodies.

“Through this collaboration, we will prioritize addressing the mixed movements of refugees and migrants in the region", she explained.

This, she noted, would be done in  accordance with, binding international and national refugee law and the protection of persons with special needs.

The gathering was informed that the EAC is finalizing development of its Refugee Management  Policy whose draft will soon be tabled before various organs of the Community.

The EAC Refugee Management Policy is aimed to enable the region to effectively address emerging challenges facing the refugees.

The EAC has one of the world's largest concentrations of refugees due to recurrent conflicts within the region and countries neighbouring the bloc.

Currently, there are over two million refugees in the East African countries- some internally displaced and others who sought refuge from countries neighboring the bloc