36 Nigerian migrants who were deported from Sweden have been received by the Federal Government.
The National Commission for Refugees, Migrants, and Internally Displaced Persons , NCFRMI, officials received the migrants yesterday at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.
IRARA provided the returnees with dignity kits that included diapers, toothpaste, shirts, towels, toothbrushes, slippers, creams, and bags in addition to a N158,000 stipend for each of them.
International Returns and Reintegration Assistance , IRARA, made it easier for them to return.
The commission’s Director of Migrant Affairs, Ambassador Catherine Udida, discussed what ultimately resulted in the returnees’ deportation. She stated: “Normally, they would have been contacted and informed that their visa had expired or they had overstayed.”
“They would have been told to leave, and the country would have started processing their deportation because it is different from those who come back voluntarily,” the statement reads. “If after one or two trials they are given the opportunity to return and they (migrants) refused to return.”
“We have profiled them and identified those who are vulnerable,” she said in reference to the deportees’ fate. We will follow up with referrals after checking them into a hotel for a few days to help them identify the true problems.
“We’ll also send them to one of our many shelters and continue to provide them with counseling so they can come to terms with the fact that they’re back home and have fresh starts.
“If they had arrived voluntarily, they typically go through a training program with financial assistance and are given access to a livelihood support program. However, since they were deported, it is our responsibility as a government to ensure that they have a comfortable life.
Therefore, we typically keep them for two weeks or even a year. We will make sure to support their livelihood whether or not they were deported.
The deportation may have resulted from their failure to promptly renew their resident permit upon its expiration, according to IRARA Country Director Roland Nwoha. “These are Nigerians who, for various immigration reasons, have been asked to leave Sweden,” Nwoha said.
“IRARA’s responsibility is to assist returning Nigerians in securing a safe landing. A considerable number of them were returned from correctional facilities, and a few were found on the streets. You can therefore imagine that it would be challenging to return.
“We are helping them by offering them lodging, financial support, and assistance with their arrival. We will assist some in starting businesses that bring in money.
“They would get N158,000 apiece, including the children.
“Although some of the migrants may claim to have residency permits, upon closer inspection you will find that the documents have either expired or are soon to expire.”
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