This study looks at three labour migration issues – national policy frameworks, data management and migrant worker practices – in four East African Community (EAC) Partner States: Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and the United Republic of Tanzania. It is couched within relevant EAC and African Union frameworks and International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions.

Findings show that all States made headway in fostering movement of persons and workers through the existing data collection, management analysis and dissemination structures at the national and regional levels and review and enactment of legislations on migration and/or labour migration. However, some States continue to grapple with the following: (a) inadequate policies on migration and/or labour migration; (b) a plethora of actors collecting labour migration-related data separately; and (c) arduous procedures in obtaining work and residence permits.

The study made several recommendations, namely that States should: (a) develop and harmonize labour migration legislation based on African Union, ILO and UN frameworks; (b) accelerate the adoption of a protocol on the portability of social security benefits; (c) formulate and implement common regional data standards; (d) constitute a regional forum for information exchange and facilitate information exchange between relevant migration management authorities, particularly through one-stop border posts; and (e) enhance dissemination of information on work and residence permit acquisition processes to ensure clarity and transparency.