July 29, 2020—Ottawa –The Honourable Marco E. L. Mendicino, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, today reaffirmed Canada’s commitment to fighting human trafficking, migrant smuggling, and irregular migration as a series of initiatives were unveiled in Nigeria.

On the eve of the World Day against Trafficking in Persons, Canadian officials joined representatives from the governments of Nigeria and Switzerland as well as international and civil society organizations to launch a series of initiatives to assist the Nigerian government in their efforts to disrupt human trafficking and smuggling operations, as well as irregular migration.

Minister Mendicino noted that Canada is pleased to be partnering with Nigeria on 3 new initiatives to improve migration and border management, supported by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and ARK, an international communications company. Each organization will participate in various initiatives being undertaken in Nigeria.

The IOM will continue to roll out the entry and exit border control system, known as the Migration Information and Data Analysis System, at the Abuja and Lagos international airports. This will support Nigeria’s ability to protect its borders by managing the flow of travellers into and through its country, while helping it to identify criminal travellers and possible human trafficking and migrant smuggling cases.

UNODC will work with Nigeria to counter human trafficking and migrant smuggling operations by identifying and responding to these criminal activities, through improved data gathering and data analysis techniques. 

ARK will use its communication expertise to support Nigeria to enhance its human trafficking and irregular migration deterrence campaigns, through integrating and applying data analysis into its targeted messaging.

This is part of the Government of Canada’s commitment to combating human trafficking around the world, which includes investing $4 million over the next 2 years in the initiatives in Nigeria.