Employment: Italian govt offers 2,500 visa quota to Nigerians
Ministry of labour and productivity says the Italian government has offered 2,500 employment Visa Allocation Quota to Nigerians.
``The quota will be allocated to Nigerian migrants working illegally in that country,'' the minister of labour and productivity, Dr Hassan Lawal, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) last weekend in Abuja.
According to Lawal, migration has increasingly become a very contentious issue for source and destination countries.
He added that a regulatory approach that guaranteed humane, safe and orderly flow of migrant workers was needed.
He said in order to fully utilise the visa allocation, a labour migration desk had been created in the ministry to facilitate applicants from Nigerians who intended to travel and work legitimately abroad.
``The desk seeks to ensure and create employment opportunities for Nigerians to work legally abroad, without fear of molestation, exploitation, inhuman treatment or unfair labour practice, thus taking advantage of the expanding global opportunities,'' Lawal said.
He said that through the desk, government would enter into bilateral agreements on employment with governments of other countries to create opportunities for Nigerians abroad in order to reduce cases of `blind' migration.
``It will allow the government to monitor activities of Nigerian migrant workers and also ensure safe and unhindered remittances thereby helping to reduce unemployment and increase foreign exchange earnings,'' Lawal said.
He also said that the process of issuing Recruiters' Licence and Employer's Permit to Private Employment Agencies (PEAs) had been put in place.
He said that through that process, the ministry would be able to monitor and regulate the activities of private employers of labour within and outside the country.
``This is important in minimising cases of unfair labour practices in the workplace, check incidence of Child Labour and Trafficking in persons,''Lawal said.