Strengthening NHRI Collaboration Along the Southern Migration Corridor: Workshop

Participants of the workshop engaged in dialogues about protection and promotion of migrants' rights, cross-border migration governance, detention practices, and regional cooperation.

Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and the Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) presented the current state of migration governance along the Southern Corridor and highlighting specific challenges within their national contexts.

During the discussions, participants identified several common challenges affecting migrants, including human trafficking, the use of prisons instead of designated detention centers, and instances of forced return. They also outlined key engagement priorities, such as advocating for the implementation and enforcement of anti-trafficking laws, strengthening the capacity of National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) to monitor detention facilities, enhancing knowledge and information sharing among NHRIs, promoting the formalization of migration governance among countries along the Southern corridor, and conducting capacity-building exercises. The discussions further emphasized the vital and proactive role that NHRIs play in monitoring migration-related issues and advocating for the protection of migrants’ rights.

NHRIs continue to face major structural and legal challenges in their efforts to safeguard the rights of migrants. Limited access to detention and migration centres, inadequate capacity to respond to transnational crimes, and a lack of regional cooperation remain key barriers. To address these issues, participants emphasized the importance of sustained strategic collaboration, regular information exchange, and coordinated advocacy as effective pathways to advance migrant protection and rights. In addition to that, the urgent need for enhanced cross-border collaboration and capacity strengthening of NHRIs was stressed.

FES AMPC will continue to support the dialogue of NHRIs to ensure cross border collaborations that center human rights-based approaches of migration governance.