Migration can attract growth, dev’t to countries of origin, destination – Italian envoy

By Maureen Okon

Mr Stephano De Leo, Italy Ambassador to Nigeria, says migration connects people and encourages growth and development in both the countries of origin and of destination.

De Leo said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

He said it was impossible to stop migration because it “serves as a boosting element in economic prosperity and international relations.

“Migration has always been a boosting element

in international relations.

“Migration is a sign of growth and it means people want to make themselves better.

“What we can do is to offer legal structures to increase migration and to find, apprehend and prosecute those who exploit people interested in migrating.

“Migration is a double-standard activity. So, we need to improve the legal structures and channels and fight those who want to exploit migrants.

“These exploiters exploit the interest to migrate for personal reasons and crime-related activities; they need to be stopped.’’

The ambassador described Nigerians living in Italy as talented people “who think a step ahead of others”.

He said that Nigerians constituted one of the largest African communities living in the European country.

“Italy hosts the biggest Nigerian community in the European Union.

“We have more than 150,000 Nigerians living in Italy. And they are increasingly being integrated into our social structure.

“Also, the third and fourth generations of these people are becoming Italian citizens.

“For me, this is an important bridge in favour of Nigeria because they can create economic bridges and help Italians to understand Nigerians.

“Italy itself is a kind of bridge in the Mediterranean Sea and we do not want to see people running away,’’ De Leo said.

He said that both countries could organise vocational training for migrants to address the question of whether the migrants should move abroad or stay back in their countries of origin and have a qualified work force “to work for Italian companies who want to start up in Nigeria”.

“As Italians, we have vast wealth of knowledge on migration issues.

“If you look at the world chart on where many Nigerian migrants have migrated to, you will realise it is to the U.S., Canada, Australia, Germany and other parts of Europe.

“We understand what migration means. We are a country of destination and we have been for hundreds of years a destination country.

“Migration means to have contact with other people. So, migration to us means to open up our eyes to Africa in general,’’ he said.

The envoy added: “We can both (Italy and Nigeria) benefit by creating a relationship and reach an understanding on how we can work together.

“There will be no knowledge sharing between people if they do not connect,” he pointed out.

(NAN)