20 Jun 2017

Nata/Gweta Sub-district councillor, Mr Mbanga Mbanga has commended the  Department of Immigration and Citizenship for their efforts in drafting the national migration policy.

Mr Mbanga said this at the ongoing Central District Council session.

He said if adopted and implemented, the policy had the potential to address the gaps, both on immigration into and emigrating out of the country, thereby benefitting Batswana.

“Immigration department has turn around time in terms of their service delivery and more often than not they are not followed,” he said.

Mr Mbanga was responding to the national migration policy presentation by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship, chief immigration administrator, Mr Lekgotla Phiri.

He said Botswana had developed a national migration draft policy which was aimed at providing a strategic vision on migration management balancing the government’s development around the four pillars of migration management, namely migration and development, facilitating migration, regulating migration and forced migration.

“This draft policy supports the government of Botswana’s national policy priorities including the government’s long term strategic vision and policies on economic diversification, sustainable development, counter terrorism and anti-trafficking,” he said.

He said under migration and development, the policy seeks to protect the integrity of Botswana through ensuring effective management to facilitate migration, upholding national security and providing assistance to migrant workers.

“It is also aimed at establishing border management procedures, which are aimed at the efficient movement of people and goods while safeguarding the national security as well as strengthening interagency and cross border management system,” he said.

With respect to facilitating migration, Mr Phiri said the policy objectives were to facilitate that every eligible applicant acquired the national travel document, and also ensure the integrity of the travel document. In terms of migration and development, it would effectively manage labour migration to attract knowledge and skills for the economic development of Botswana while at the same time respecting the rights of migrants.

Mr Phiri further said as Botswana was increasingly becoming a destination country, it was experiencing challenges in terms of regulation, security and the need to attend to humanitarian needs from the large mixed and migratory flows.

“Without a comprehensive migration policy, different arms of government can work at cross-purposes. A national migration policy provides a cohesive and holistic approach to migration management for Botswana,” he said.

He further said the policy provided a strategic vision on migration management, balancing the government, security and humanitarian objectives.

Mr Phiri said the policy was aligned with other national policy strategies, citing the example of the government’s long term vision and policies on economic diversification , sustainable development, counter terrorism and anti-human trafficking.

Furthermore, he said the policy has taken into account Botswana’s regional and international obligations in the field of migration and considered opportunities to strengthen bilateral and regional cooperation. BOPA