Accra, Dec. 19, GNA - The International Migrants Day has been mark in Techiman, Bono East Capital, to celebrate the stories and resilience of migrants the world over.
Over the past decade, the issues of migrants and the various challenges they faced have doubled and increasingly and continuously become alarming with pictures of West Africans desperately trying and dying in the desert or on the deadly Mediterranean seas in their quest to get into Europe.
These were contained in a statement issued to the Ghana News Agency by the Catholic Relief Services (CRS).
'The CRS through its Action for the Protection and Integration of Migrants in Africa (APIMA) Project and in collaboration with CARITAS Ghana, organized a clean-up exercise to mark the International Migrants Day with returned migrants to clean the Techiman township.
Aside celebrating the stories and resilience of migrants, Catholic Relief Services (CRS).
"CARITAS Ghana seeks to use the International Migrants Day to highlight and reiterate Pope Francis call and the UN’s call for migration to be safe, regular and dignified for all and to remind the world of the plight of migrants mostly from the Sub Sahara Africa who risk their lives to embark on these perilous journeys and are exposed to attacks and abuse by bandits/armed robbers, false imprisonment, starvations, beatings and denial of health care access amongst others, "it said.
According to the statement, Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and CARITAS Ghana joins Pope Francis’s to decried many of the conditions driving migration and experienced by vulnerable populations, inveighed against the world’s lack of response and indifference to their suffering, and called for solidarity with migrants.
The statement said it was important to highlight that, in 2018, close to 3,400 migrants and refugees lost their lives worldwide.
CRS’ APIMA project is working to ensure safe migration for a dignified life in West Africa. And will continue to target the youth including both returned migrants and potential migrants by promoting economic opportunities through providing Life and Employability Skills Trainings, increasing awareness on safe practices, engaging frontline government agencies in recognizing abuse and exploitation and in collaboration with church partners, adopt a holistic, cross-border protection-based approach targeting youth and community members with an intentional messaging in an effort to shift the perceptions around Migration in Nkoranza and Techiman Municipals before departure and upon return.
With this event, CRS/CARITAS seeks to also encourage the government and community leaders to lead in providing avenues for the reintegration of returned migrants.
It is also the hope that in working through the APIMA project, government agencies will continue to support CRS/CARITAS in its efforts to change the perception of community members and the youth about irregular migration and to put in measures to ensure that the youth get access to the right information to avoid becoming victims of the perilous journeys.
On this day we also wish to take a minute to mourn all migrants who lost their lives trying to seek refuge, the statement said.
GNA
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