Germany is putting together 47.7 million Euros development package for Nigeria to address the challenge posed by illegal migrants.
The package is expected to stop illegal migration.
German Foreign Affairs Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier made the statement in Abuja when he fielded questions from newsmen at the end of a meeting of Nigeria-German Bi-National Commission.
He said Nigeria and Germany have signed an understanding not to allow illegal migrants from Nigeria stay in Germany or Europe.
“There is an understanding in Nigeria and we have just signed a Memorandum of Understanding in our meeting of the BNC that, we have to insist that illegal migrants from Nigeria will not be allowed to stay in Germany. That, they have to return and that we have to find the legal basis for the return of illegal migrants from Germany, Europe to Nigeria,’’ he said.
He said that Germany had already offered two million Euros for humanitarian assistance to Nigeria to assist the country tackle the challenges posed by illegal migrants.
The minister said that Nigeria and Germany had a common issue on the illegal migrants, adding that was the reason Germany was offering the assistance.
He said that the number of illegal migrants from Nigeria which was about two per cent in the last two years had increased recently.
“In the last few months, the number of illegal migrants from Nigeria is increasing.
“Poverty and lack of security may be dominant reasons; young people are leaving their homes and embarking on a risky and dangerous journey to cross the Mediterranean to Europe.
“So therefore, we have a common understanding that we have to first of all work on perspectives for the younger generation and that is the reason we are offering fund,” he said.
In his remarks, during the question and answer session, Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama expressed concern on the number of irregular migrants leaving Nigeria.
He traced the cause of such a dangerous adventure especially for young people to economic security and the need for education.
He said that the Federal government would address the problems.
“We appreciate the willingness of your government to try to tackle some of those peculiar challenges especially Lake Chad, which has shrunk from 90 per cent to 10 per cent of its original size.
“The Lake is impacting directly on the economic life of 30 million people; these are all the areas we believe we should be addressing and the government is doing that,” he said.
