MIGRANT REINTEGRATION, TRAINING AND EMPLOYMENT PROJECT (MRTEP). A SUSTAINABLE MODEL OF MIGRANT REINTEGRATION

Sierra Leone’s labour migration policy was launched in 2018. According to the Government of Sierra Leone, the policy articulates the State’s commitment to ensure a labour migration process that adheres to the principles of good governance, rights and responsibilities enshrined in international protocols and national laws to advance opportunities for all men and women engaged in labour migration for decent and productive employment in conditions of freedom, dignity, security and equity.

There have been allegations of mistreatment and sexual abuse of Sierra Leonean women who have gone to the Middle East as domestic workers. This forced government to place a ban on the exportation of labour out of the country to address their issues. News of the horrors faced by migrants continues to filter in through various media but the movement of young people from Sierra Leone also continues on a daily basis. The tougher the economy becomes, the more young people become desperate to embark on the dangerous journey to Europe and other places of the world.

Currently, returnee’s migrants have a reintegration program offered by IOM, but it is not enough to stop the growing trend of irregular migration in/from Sierra Leone. While there are no reliable statistics of returnees migrants who have gone back from the dangerous journey, over 90% of the current case load that received reintegration support from IOM are now broke and not economically productive. They are therefore angry, dissatisfied and pose a security threat to their communities and the country.

The IOM Reintegration package from which the returnee’s migrants have so far benefitted includes support for the establishment of micro businesses to the tune of 1000 Euros. In the absence of the appropriate entrepreneurship skills and advice, nearly all the businesses have collapsed and the beneficiaries have found themselves as desperate and as destitute as before. The reintegration strategy has proved unsustainable and governments and NGOs have received serious back lash from desperate migrant returnees from time to time. A strategic reintegration approach is needed.

The European Reintegration Networking defines reintegration as the “re-inclusion or re-incorporation of a person into a group or a process, example of a migrant into the society of his country of origin with the objective to enable these people to help themselves. The 2008 Global Report by the MIREM (Migration de Retour au Maghreb) Project defines reintegration as a process through which a return migrant participates in the social, cultural, economic and political life of the country of origin. Based on these definitions of migrant reintegration, the current strategy cannot fully address the reintegration of the ever increasing number of return migrants.

The Lack of an effective Reintegration Coordination program at national level is a major challenge in addressing the root causes of irregular migration in Sierra Leone.