With the launched 2019 National Labour Migration Policy, the government has committed to addressing a wide range of areas such as deficiencies in Namibia’s institutional framework relating to labour migration.
Labour minister Utoni Nujoma yesterday launched the national policy aimed to address a range of matters relevant to labour migration in the Namibian context.
Other issues to be addressed include retention and reintegration of migrant workers; public and private recruitment of migrant workers; Namibian workers in the diaspora; and remittances.
The policy also covers human resource management; skills development and training; health and well-being; of migrant workers; irregular migration and human trafficking; refugees and asylum seekers; and social security protection of migrant workers.
SADC region’s approach to integration and harmonisation of labour migration; and data collection is also covered.
“If we succeed in addressing all of these areas, we will make enormous progress toward protecting the rights of migrants and enhancing their positive impact on Namibia’s development. Namibia’s Labour Migration Policy is necessary to ensure the sound development and implementation of a labour migration system that will have a positive impact on human resource development, economic growth and decent work for all in Namibia,” Nujoma said.
The Namibia 2011 Population and Housing Census indicated that there are 68,358 international migrants in Namibia.
Although the reliable national figures on labour migration outflows are not currently available in Namibia, the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) indicated that the number of Namibians who reside abroad increased from 48 158 in 2000 to 137 498 in 2013.
The policy is accompanied by an implementation plan, which outlines concrete strategies and actions, which will contribute to the overall achievement of the policy’s goals.
Therefore, Nujoma emphasised it is important for institutional collaboration and coordination between the ministry and all the relevant stakeholders in effective implementation of the policy.
He is hopeful that the successful implementation of this policy will achieve the much-desired development and improvement of Namibia’s economy.
Labour migration is defined by the International Organisation for Migration, as “the movement of persons from one state to another or within their own country of residence for employment”.
Many foreign workers render their services in Namibia to help fill critical skills gaps in the labour market.
At the same time, large numbers of Namibians are working overseas.
As a country of origin, and destination, Nujoma feels Namibia has benefited and can benefit further from labour migration, but this potential is not yet being exploited to a large extent.
In this regard, he says the country is committed to facilitating orderly, safe, regular and responsible labour migration through the implementation of an integrated national labour migration policy for development.
According to him, the contribution that these workers make towards development can now be explored with the comprehensive policy.
Namibia is among the first countries in the SADC region to heed the request, to develop a National Labour Migration Policy, as dictated by the SADC Labour Migration Action and Policy Framework.
This initiative is aimed at enhancing the understanding as well as the management of labour migration flows to, in and from Namibia.
The Namibia Migration Profile launched in June 2016 highlighted the absence of critical data on labour migration and that of migration in general as well as the need to strengthen capacity and coordination among line ministries.