Morocco: African Women Journalists harp on changing the perception of African migrants

The second edition of Women Journalists of Africa b“Les Panafricaines” Forum on Friday began discussions in Casablanca, Morocco on how to change the perception of African migrants.

The event with the theme “African migration: a chance for the continent, a responsibility for the media.” will witness over 200 women journalist from 54 African countries and lead to the adoption of a roadmap and action plan network for the coming year.

“Today out of 100 migrants to Europe; only 13 are Africans; and therefore Europe cannot open its doors to the 87 others and transform itself into a just fortress for the African; therefore, it is necessary to present the phenomenon clearly,“sais Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Nasser Bourita.

“The migrants who are in the news today are pointed out, are often stigmatized, because we do not know their history, we media are responsible for this look, we are the ones who inform the public, we are the ones who relay daily dramas, we but also our European colleagues who constantly show a suffering Africa; the information is unfortunately incomplete, “ said Fathia El Aouni, Editor-in-chief, 2M.

Out of the 36 million African migrants, 80 per cent are regular and 4 out of 5 are from Africa. The continent alone hosts the majority of refugees in the world. The work of deconstructing these stereotypes therefore involves another narrative in Europe and elsewhere.

The forum hopes to mobilize African media to stimulate public debates around migration issues.

Larry Macaulay, Founder, Refugee Radio Network based in Germany said he and his team created the radio of refugees, a platform that carries the voice of refugees in Europe.

“what motivated us was the desire to change the stereotypes that we found in the traditional media, we first started through theatre, discussion platforms, but very few people came to the events that we organized. So we said to ourselves why not bring our voice through the media to react to this and educate the community,” he added.

Faced with political the migration issue, experts believe that the upstream work would consist in setting up a common immigration policy as human mobility is expected to accelerate in the coming years.

The event is expected to lead to the adoption of a road map action plan of the network for the coming year. The forum also has the objective of mobilizing African media to stimulate public debates regarding migration issues and also promote greater visibility of migration issues relating to women.

The Global Forum on Migration and Development in December will be held in Marrakech, Morocco and once again focus on illegal migration.