On Wednesday Nigeria and United Kingdom began the review of the Memorandum of Understanding on immigration returns.
Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Uhomoibhi Martin said the meeting would enable the two countries to take stock of implementation of the agreement.
He recalled that during the last meeting, one of the definite and welcome decision was the UK decision to shelve the proposed £3000 UK visa bond for first time travellers from Nigeria and a few other countries.
“I know that we all have a hugely high expectations for this review and meeting, given the progress that we have made in 2013 in this all important matter. If necessary, we want to be able to agree on areas that can easily be amended, within the mandate of the framework agreement and the challenges caused by irregular migration, is one that can only be address through the periodic review exercise,” he said .
He expressed hope that the deliberation woud lead to greater understanding and mutual cooperation between the two countries.
The leader of the UK delegates and Director of Compliance, Hugh Ind said that immigration remained one of the issues facing the global community.
According to him, the MoU on Immigration and Trade is an instrument for forging common ties between Nigeria and UK.
Among the issues on the table to reviewed are the transfer of sentenced persons, Visa on Nigeria and UK services, cooperation on the return of Nigeria nationals remaining unlawfully in UK, cooperation on trafficking and on immigration policies.
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