The Federal Government of Nigeria has urged the United States of America to follow laid down convention on deportation of persons in repatriating immigrants in their country.
This is as it expressed the concerns of Nigerians over the likely suspension of the Drop Box Visa System of the US Government.
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu stated these when the US Ambassador to Nigeria, Richard Mills Jr. paid her a courtesy visit at the Tafawa Balewa House, Abuja.
Amb. Odumegwu-Ojukwu bemoaned the emotional and financial pains that many Nigerians in the United States were already experiencing since the new administration of the country indicated its resolve to repatriate some categories of people from the US.
She stated that the effect was far-reaching even to the hinterlands of Nigeria where for instance, several families including children relied on remittances from the US for their survival and education.
Highlighting that Nigerians in the US deserved dignified repatriation, the minister asked the US Government to find a way of ameliorating the trauma of those to be deported including allowing them ample opportunity to retrieve their assets in America.
“With the new administration in the US, we want a situation where there will be commitments. If there will be repatriation, we want dignified return.
“At the moment, we’re told that about 201 Nigerian nationals are in US immigration camps, and about 85 have been cleared for deportation.
“Will there be any way of ameliorating their pains? This has been of great concerns to not just Nigerian nationals in the US but family members in Nigeria who depend on them for survival, children whose school fees are paid for by these diasporans.
“We are asking as a country whether they will be given ample time to handle their assets or will they just be bundled into planes and repatriated? It will really be traumatic especially for those who had not committed any violent crime,” Amb. Odumegwu-Ojukwu said.
The minister also urged Washington DC to reconsider its possible suspension of the Drop Box Visa Policy such that Nigerians who had been travelling to the US for genuine reasons would not have to suffer unduly in procuring US Visa.
She urged the US Government to issue a statement clarifying its actual position on the Drop Box system to assuage the concerns of anxious Nigerians.
Moreso, the minister disclosed that about 14,000 Nigerian students in the US, with parents in Nigeria. These parents, she said, were worried whether there will be any change in student policy by the new US administration.
Amb. Odumegwu-Ojukwu also expressed worry that the future of USAID was not known, saying: “We can’t say whether it’s outright suspension. A lot of NGOs are worried to get clarifications.
“We will just make that appeal on behalf of the NGOs in Nigeria, even less than a month into the 90 days review, there have been concerns.
“And I know before the completion of the review, there’s already humanitarian issues in Nigeria and Africa.
“We will make an appeal that this initiative be preserved, even if it’s abrogated as an agency, there must be a way of keeping the ideals to ensure that the poor beneficiaries in the communities, not just in Nigeria but Africa, are not abandoned.”
The minister further called for injection of more impetus in the bilateral relations between Abuja and Washington DC.
Noting that Nigeria and US had not done well in the area of trade especially post-COVID-19, she called for investments in the mining sector. According to her, diversification of investments would engender boost in export to the US.
Notably, the minister called for the reactivation of the ‘Silent Secretariat’ where the two countries assessed their bilateral relations
In addition, the minister explained that the foreign policy of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led Administration which focuses on Democracy, Development, Demography and Diaspora (4-Ds) was on course pointing out that the federal government was committed to citizen diplomacy.
“One other area is not just diaspora but diplomacy, people-to-people contacts. So, the issue of illegal migration is there but the current administration is determined about citizen diplomacy.
“We want to know how our people in diaspora are doing. We have some of the in prisons abroad, the administration is concerned about their welfare,” she said.
She said that Nigeria needed strategic partnerships to tackle the demographic issue of unemployment which triggers illegal migration known as Japa syndrome in Nigerian parlance.
She said that it was in line with the 4-Ds foreign policy of Nigeria, that despite the Sahel crisis, the free movement policy of ECOWAS was still in place.
“ECOWAS has been at its best, so, one has to appreciate that even with the exit of these states, yet free movement within the region is still there. The immigration has not closed the borders,” the minister said.
In the course of the meeting, the US Ambassador, Mills said that he looked forward that the bilateral relations between both countries will get quite broader.
He said that the Drop Box Visa Policy has not been suspended explaining that whenever there is a change in administration, policies are renewed. He assured that the position of the new US Government on the USAID, Drop Box Visa system and others, would be known in due course.
He acknowledged that the USAID did some specifics particularly in life-saving in the health sector, humanitarian issues like mother-child issue.
“Some of these NGOs are feeling the pains, but the situation is being reviewed,” Mills said.
The envoy expressed concerns over democracy in Africa noting the exit of three Sahel States from ECOWAS as well as the challenge of counter-terrorism.
On the deportation of Nigerian immigrants, he said: “Those to be repatriated would be dropped in Lagos. There wouldn’t be room for whether it should be in Port Harcourt or Abuja.
“The first group will be convicted prisoners. Those who committed crimes and are in US prisons. Some of them are those who have clearly violated US immigration laws.
“They appealed but were denied yet they are still in the US. They have committed immigration crime, people who have been ordered to leave.”
He also spoke on AGOA which ends September this year but noted that it is left for the parliamentary group to push for its renewal.
“I think this administration will concentrate more on trade and commerce. This relationship is strong and we want it sustained,” he stated.
He congratulated Amb. Odumegwu-Ojukwu on her recent appointment as minister.
