By: Thoboloko Ntšonyane

MASERU – The newly launched Integrated Migration Data Management System (IMDMS) is expected to capture data of every person crossing the borders of Lesotho and help trace victims of trafficking in persons (TIP) and smuggling of persons with ease.

The IMDMS will complement the legal framework in place to curb the TIP which affects largely women and happens through organized syndicates where people are lured for better economic opportunities to the neighbouring South Africa and other countries.

The data will be used for recording among others the outgoing movements of the travelers going outside the country and entering the country.

The system was launched in Maseru and it is supported by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) Development Fund.

On behalf of the Minister of Finance and Development Planning, the Principal Secretary (PS) Nthoateng Lebona said this system is envisaged to address the migration data gaps, she said the government has developed the National Diaspora Policy and the National Migration and Development Policy.

“Both policies identified migration data gaps. In 2010 Lesotho was included as one of the South countries which were afforded an opportunity under the African Caribbean and the Pacific Observatory on Migration to conduct research on key migration thematic areas. One of the areas which was identified as an area of priority for was unavailability of migration data.

“Globally migration data is not yet as abundant as data for other issues. Yet migration is becoming more and more relevant in all countries including Lesotho,” she said.

She pointed that lack of migration data has become a concern as the world the world begins to appreciate the migration and development nexus.

Meanwhile in 2014, the United Nations (UN) made the resolution on the International Migration and Development to the effect that there is a need for reliable, accurate, disaggregated, nationally and internationally comparable statistical data as well as indicators of migration for sustainable development.

The PS said Lesotho with the population estimated over 200 000 living as migrant workers in South Africa lacks reliable data on migration as owing to lack of data on migration saying this means they are “invisible, particularly those in irregular situations”.

“We have good policies and the country has ratified key international instruments and conventions that relate to migrants, but without data we cannot fulfill our obligations to protect international migrants in Lesotho,” she said.

Few weeks ago, Lesotho welcomed the task them from the Kingdom of Eswatini who came to borrow a leaf from the books of Lesotho on how she handles issues of migration and TIP amongst others.

For his part, the IOM Regional Director for Southern Africa and Indian Ocean Ashraf EL Nour commended Lesotho on the launch of the IMDS saying it will enable the country to effectively produce up-to-date migration data which will be used to analyse and for the dissemination of the reports on migration trends.

“The collection and analysis of migration data, and the production of informative migration situation report is the critical step towards the evidence-based migration policy and program which will bring the economic development of Lesotho (sic),” he said.

The IOM’s Regional Director said the importance of data cannot be overemphasized in the modern societies adding that data are crucial in helping appreciate almost all aspects of the society from employment to education information.

He continued: “The disaggregation of age, sex and gender is crucial to frame the best public policies to address the needs of migrants. Also, it is was realized that there are a large number of migrants who have not been accounted for in data collection system due to their lack of formal status. They are invisible. Statistics cannot turn a blind eye to those invisible migrants in irregular situations.”

System to arrest trafficking in persons or smuggling

Thoboloko Ntšonyane

MASERU – The newly launched Integrated Migration Data Management System (IMDMS) is expected to capture data of every person crossing the borders of Lesotho and help trace victims of trafficking in persons (TIP) and smuggling of persons with ease.

The IMDMS will complement the legal framework in place to curb the TIP which affects largely women and happens through organized syndicates where people are lured for better economic opportunities to the neighbouring South Africa and other countries.

The data will be used for recording among others the outgoing movements of the travelers going outside the country and entering the country.

The system was launched in Maseru and it is supported by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) Development Fund.

On behalf of the Minister of Finance and Development Planning, the Principal Secretary (PS) Nthoateng Lebona said this system is envisaged to address the migration data gaps, she said the government has developed the National Diaspora Policy and the National Migration and Development Policy.

“Both policies identified migration data gaps. In 2010 Lesotho was included as one of the South countries which were afforded an opportunity under the African Caribbean and the Pacific Observatory on Migration to conduct research on key migration thematic areas. One of the areas which was identified as an area of priority for was unavailability of migration data.

“Globally migration data is not yet as abundant as data for other issues. Yet migration is becoming more and more relevant in all countries including Lesotho,” she said.

She pointed that lack of migration data has become a concern as the world the world begins to appreciate the migration and development nexus.

Meanwhile in 2014, the United Nations (UN) made the resolution on the International Migration and Development to the effect that there is a need for reliable, accurate, disaggregated, nationally and internationally comparable statistical data as well as indicators of migration for sustainable development.

The PS said Lesotho with the population estimated over 200 000 living as migrant workers in South Africa lacks reliable data on migration as owing to lack of data on migration saying this means they are “invisible, particularly those in irregular situations”.

“We have good policies and the country has ratified key international instruments and conventions that relate to migrants, but without data we cannot fulfill our obligations to protect international migrants in Lesotho,” she said.

Few weeks ago, Lesotho welcomed the task them from the Kingdom of Eswatini who came to borrow a leaf from the books of Lesotho on how she handles issues of migration and TIP amongst others.

For his part, the IOM Regional Director for Southern Africa and Indian Ocean Ashraf EL Nour commended Lesotho on the launch of the IMDS saying it will enable the country to effectively produce up-to-date migration data which will be used to analyse and for the dissemination of the reports on migration trends.

“The collection and analysis of migration data, and the production of informative migration situation report is the critical step towards the evidence-based migration policy and program which will bring the economic development of Lesotho (sic),” he said.

The IOM’s Regional Director said the importance of data cannot be overemphasized in the modern societies adding that data are crucial in helping appreciate almost all aspects of the society from employment to education information.

He continued: “The disaggregation of age, sex and gender is crucial to frame the best public policies to address the needs of migrants. Also, it is was realized that there are a large number of migrants who have not been accounted for in data collection system due to their lack of formal status. They are invisible. Statistics cannot turn a blind eye to those invisible migrants in irregular situations.”