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The 133rd Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) General Assembly and related Meetings commenced in Geneva, Switzerland with sustained calls for fairer and more humane migration.
The General Assembly brings together over 50 Speakers and 600 Members of Parliament from 130 Parliaments globally over the next 5 days in discussing key thematic areas on migration. The theme this year is “the moral and economic imperative for fairer, smarter and more human migration”.
Addressing the Assembly, EALA Speaker, Rt Hon. Daniel Fred Kidega said that migration was a predominant and persistent characteristic of humanity, and that it occupied a central place in human history and current affairs.
The Speaker pushed for the uptake of the Political Federation in the East African region saying such move would demystify the refugees’ problem. “At worst, under the Political Federation, we can only be talking about internally displaced persons and not refugees”, he remarked.
He therefore urged Parliamentarians and Parliaments to concert individual and collective efforts in ensuring countries undertake more humane and smarter migration. “As Parliamentarians, we need to focus on the migration challenge by probing the root causes of international migration, particularly global processes that are unprecedented in their power to encourage the crossing of borders”, he said.
The Speaker noted that insecurities in the neighbouring countries of the EAC similarly resulted in the migration inflows and the refugees’ problem arising from instability in Somalia, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi was larger than anticipated a few years ago.
The matter, he remarked, was more complicated given the entry of the Common Market Protocol which anticipates free movement of the citizens.
The Speaker said the EAC was working towards attaining a sustainable and stable region that boosts and respects the UN agenda, particularly on matters of peace, development, challenge of migration and human rights.
“The Parliaments must take their role of legislation, representation and oversight in the areas”, Rt Hon. Kidega remarked. Rt Hon. Kidega also urged Parliaments / Assemblies to enact effective law against traffickers and smugglers.
The Speaker is leading a delegation of EALA consisting of Hon. Straton Ndikuryayo and two EALA staff. The top leadership of the Parliaments of Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya and Burundi are in attendance while Parliament of Tanzania is represented by senior staff.
The issue of humane migration is taking central stand following the recent Syrian crisis among others. According to the IPU, although the more than 230 million migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in the world today represent a small percentage of the global population, rising xenophobia combined with the ongoing impact of the global economic crisis continue to warp any reasoned debate and policy response on the migration phenomenon.
The President of IPU, Hon. Saber Chowdhury said it was necessary for IPU to consider better migration in order to impact on people’s lives. “This is a critical agenda that we must engage in”, Hon. Chowdhury said. He noted that IPU and the UN were working closely together and that more collaboration was expected in the coming year.
The Director of ILO said that migration was a major trend given that 1 in every 7 persons globally are migrating. He cited degradation of environment, demand for labour and instabilities as some of the reasons for migration. He maintained that Parliaments can also pass legislation on diaspora and ensure policies on the same are effected.
The 133rd Assembly has also considered and approved the re-admission of Fiji into the IPU in a move welcomed by the Organisation as a significant step forward in ongoing efforts to cement democracy in the country and in IPU’s engagement with parliaments from Pacific Ocean Island nations.
The re-admission of Fiji today increases the Organisation’s membership to 167 national parliaments. Fiji had first joined IPU in 1997. However, a military coup in 2006, the fourth since 1970, had led to the dissolution of parliament and Fiji’s formal expulsion from the Organisation in 2007.
The 133rd Assembly will also convene several IPU bodies including the Meeting of Women Parliamentarians, IPU’s Forum of Young Parliamentarians, the Committee on Middle East Questions as well as the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians. Cases involving the violations of the human rights of nearly 120 MPs from 21 countries will be examined by the IPU Committee, which will also hold up to 12 hearings with parliamentary authorities, victims and others who could assist in investigations.
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The curtains closed on the 2nd Meeting of the 4th Session late last week, with the Assembly adjourning debate on a Bill and a motion respectively.
EALA adjourned debate on the Forest Management and Protection Bill, 2015. The adjournment at Committee stage followed the successful Motion for the same tabled by the Chair of EAC Council of Ministers, Hon. Dr Harrison Mwakyembe, seeking for more time to enable the United Republic of Tanzania to make input.
Hon. Dr Mwakyembe informed the House that the United Republic of Tanzania would go to the polls in the next few days and said it was necessary that the debate be put on hold until such time the incoming Government is in place to effectively enable the Partner State to make input.
Though majority of Members rose up to support the Motion for adjournment, they however noted that the practice should not be encouraged. “We committed to the EAC as Partner States and not based on tenure of sitting Governments, it is important that the records of the House state so”, Hon. Martin Ngoga said.
Hon. Judy Pareno told the Assembly to check the emerging trend of the Council of Ministers taking over Bills and then stalling them over periods of time, citing the EAC Disaster Risk Reduction and Management and the EAC Cross-Border Legal Practice Bill as examples.
“The Executive should not be seen to be torpedoing the function of the Assembly”, she noted.
Hon. Dora Byamukama also lamented that the Assembly should not stall when there are elections in Partner States saying it would set a bad precedence. Hon. Adam Kimbisa and Hon. Mukasa Mbidde also voiced support for the Bill, whose mover is Hon. Christophe Bazivamo.
The Speaker, Rt Hon. Daniel F. Kidega ruled that the debate on the key Bill be brought back on the Order Paper when the Assembly resumes in Kigali, Rwanda in November.
The EAC Forestry and Management Protection Bill, 2015 hopes to promote the development, protection, conservation, sustainable management and use of the forests in the Community, especially trans-boundary forests ecosystems, in the interest of present and future generations.
It further wants to espouse the scientific, cultural and socio-economic values of forests and harmonise national forest laws. Also put on hold was debate on Motion for a Resolution to ratify and deposit the required instruments of the amended Protocol to the Constitutive Act of the African Union. The import of the Resolution whose mover is Hon. Mike Sebalu is to enable Pan-African Parliament to achieve the important pillar of legislation.
Hon. Dr Odette Nyiramilimo moved the motion to adjourn debate to enable Members acquaint themselves with the said Protocol. Earlier on, the Chair of the EAC Council of Ministers responded to a number of questions posed by Hon. Dora Byamukama and Hon. Shyrose Bhanji.
On Tuesday, the Assembly passed a Report of the Goodwill mission by the Regional Affairs and Conflict Resolution Committee to visit Burundi Refugees in Kigoma, Tanzania and in the Eastern Province of Rwanda. The Members stressed the need to tackle the root causes of the refugee situation in the region rather than addressing the symptoms.
The Regional Affairs and Conflict Resolution Committee led by the Chairperson, Hon. Abdullah Mwinyi was dispatched to Kigoma and Eastern Province of Rwanda in late May and early June 2015 to appraise itself with the humanitarian situation on the ground and to assess the amenities available.
During debate, Hon. Twaha Issa Taslima noted that the situation in the refugee camps visited were disturbing. He noted that the Nyarugusu camp in Tanzania was already congested with other refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) also taking refuge there.
Hon. Chris Opoka-Okumu urged the host countries to put in place mechanisms under which refugees who have stayed long can be absorbed into such states through naturalisation.
Hon. Mukasa Mbidde informed the House that refugees interviewed at the camps maintained they fled - fearing threats due to what they described as organised violence and arbitrary arrests by militia and other armed groups.
Hon. Christophe Bazivamo told the House that experience in the region has shown that refugee crisis are closely associated with the elections due to violence before, during and after the polls.
He pleaded for the EAC States to adhere to the principles of good governance, democracy, human rights and rule of law to minimise the crisis. Hon. Shyrose Bhanji called on all players in the Burundi politics to preach peace and avoid further violence, adding that the EALA mission had established that peace dialogue was the best way to end the political crisis there.
Presenting the report, the Chair of Goodwill Mission, Hon. Mwinyi said over 100,000 Burundians have fled their country since April this year to Tanzania, Rwanda, DRC and Uganda following violence precipitated by disagreement over the interpretation of the Arusha Accord and the Burundi Constitution on the issue of presidential term.
The next Sitting takes place in Kigali, Rwanda in November 2015.