Nigeria and the European Union signed an agreement in Abuja on Tuesday that sets out how Nigerians with no legal right to stay in EU countries will be returned home, after talks that began in 2016.
Foreign Affairs Minister Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu and Magnus Brunner, the European Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration, signed it, the EU Delegation to Nigeria announced, Business Insider Africa reported.
About 260,000 Nigerians live legally in the EU, Brunner said. The agreement covers people whose applications to stay have been rejected, whose visas have expired or who otherwise lack legal status; people with valid visas or residence permits are not affected, and each return must follow legal procedures. It also allows Nigeria to return EU nationals with no right to stay.
Interior Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo met Brunner before the signing. He said more than 17 million migration records had been moved into one system, which would help officials confirm the nationality of people being returned, according to a statement from his ministry.
Tunji-Ojo said returns could include people holding Nigerian travel documents, people who lost or destroyed them after travelling, and people who travelled with none. He said similar arrangements were already working with the UK, and talks were under way with the US.
Nigeria had wanted the deal to cover trafficking, drugs and legal migration routes as well, a member of the EU delegation said. He said talks on those would start once the readmission agreement was concluded, and that the EU had made almost €100 million in extra funding available for wider cooperation.
The agreement still has to complete the EU’s approval process, including the consent of the European Parliament, before it comes into force. Talks on border management, human trafficking and migrant smuggling are due to follow, the interior ministry said.
Sources: Vanguard; Business Insider Africa
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