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WHO IS A MIGRANT?
The UN Migration Agency (IOM) defines a migrant as any person who is moving or has moved across an international border or within a State away from his/her habitual place of residence, regardless of (1) the person’s legal status; (2) whether the movement is voluntary or involuntary; (3) what the causes for the movement are; or (4) what the length of the stay is.
WHY DO PEOPLE MIGRATE?
There is a combination of reasons, choice and constraints why people migrate and we cannot overlook that many of these reasons, particularly within the West African region are influences by a myriad of negative factors.
Whatever the motives, mixed population flows are the result and a phenomenon, which challenges policymaking today.
Based on our research at See far, most Nigerians and other West African migrants are ECONOMIC MIGRANTS.
WHY DO (West Africans)PEOPLE MIGRATE?
The reasons why people decide to migrate are multiple and complex.
◦ They include the absence of employment opportunities in their countries of origin,
◦ The scarcity of health and education services.
◦ The desire to reunite with family members already in other countries.
◦ Safety & security- armed conflict and other situations of violence are major drivers forcing people to leave their homes.
Factors driving migration in West Africa
IDENTIFYING THE FACTORS DRIVING WEST AFRICAN MIGRATION
◦ Migrants are aware of the perils of the journey. Many of them experienced traumatic events but remained undaunted in their desire to migrate abroad.
◦ In survey data, the most common reason to stay in one’s country of origin was either family or patriotism*.
◦ A striking number of Nigerians (50%) were interested in leaving their country of origin if given the opportunity. Ivoiriens (27%), Senegalese (27%) and, to a lesser extent, Burkinabe, Malians, and Nigeriens were also interested in leaving their country if given the opportunity.
◦ Urban and more highly educated Nigerians are most likely to want to migrate abroad.
◦ Religion also plays a role. Muslim Nigerians are much less likely to want to migrate abroad.
◦ Economic standing does not have a significant effect on Nigerians’ desire to leave their home. Instead, individual perceptions of the strength of Nigeria’s democracy are most strongly associated with Nigerians’ desire to migrate abroad, followed by low levels of trust in local security
Preferred Migration Destinations –West African’s.
Across West Africa, men tend to be more likely to want to leave than women, although this varies based on religion.
In Nigeria and Burkina Faso, both countries with significant Christian populations, women are on par with men in their desire to migrate, while in Niger, which is majority Muslim, women are half as open to leaving Niger.
Preferred destinations by West Africans
◦ Between 2015 and 2016, Nigerian asylum applications in the EU rose from approximately 30,000 to 46,100. Most of these asylum applications were submitted in Italy (26,550 applications in 2016). In the first three quarters of 2017, 31,200 Nigerians applied for asylum in the EU, the fourth-largest national group of asylum applicants.
◦ Meanwhile, with 14,159 Nigerian arrivals in Europe via the Mediterranean Sea in the first half of 2017, there is also a far greater number of Nigerians arriving via this route than any other national group. Most Nigerian asylum seekers are viewed as economic migrants, and in the third quarter of 2017, a total of 77 per cent of Nigerian asylum applications across the EU were rejected.
WHY EUROPE (27%) & NORTH AMERICA (22%)
◦ According to Seefar:
◦ The top pull factors for Nigerian potential migrants are the perception of strong job prospects in Europe, access to educational opportunities and economic support from host governments.
◦ The vast majority (87 percent) of potential Nigerian migrants surveyed agreed that it would be easier to find a job in their preferred destination than at home while 83 percent thought that they would be better able to access educational opportunities in Europe.
◦ The overall social and political context in Europe is also appealing to Nigerian migrants who highlighted their desire to feel safer and experience more freedom. Among Nigerians surveyed by Seefar, 99 percent of migrants in Libya and 86 percent of those still in Nigeria agreed that they would have more freedom in Europe than at home.
“WHO IS MORE LIKELY TO MIGRATE OUT OF AFRICA/(NIGERIA)”
◦ Based on Seefar’s Research ( The Migrant Project), Irregular migration thrives among those with lower levels of education. Potential (irregular) migrants tend to be unemployed or underemployed. In Libya, for example, 90 percent of Nigerian respondents said that they were unemployed prior to departure.
◦ The educated lower and middle class in Nigeria and other West African countries migrate regularly and mostly for economic, health and security reason.
◦ Nigeria is characterised by high levels of irregular migration of both women and men. In Seefar’s research, 57% of migrants in Libya were male and 43 per cent of Nigerian migrants already in Libya were female while 30 percent of potential migrants who were still in Nigeria were female.
◦ While about two-thirds of Nigerian migrants interviewed in Libya were between 18 and 24 years old, migration of older women and men (19 percent of potential migrants in Nigeria were 35 to 44 years old) is also common.
◦ More than half of potential migrants surveyed did not have dependent children. Nigerian migrants in Libya were largely Yoruba (54 percent) although a proportion also identified as Igbo (25 percent) and Hausa (13 percent).
Economic opportunities, A major pull factor in West Africans’ desire to migrate.
◦ Economic opportunities pull West Africans’ desire to migrate According to the data, West Africans who would migrate if given the means and opportunity were far more likely to cite economic benefits as their primary motivation (better jobs and pay, and the opportunity to send money home) than to mention gaining personal freedoms, furthering their education, or escaping insecurity.
◦ Focus groups held with West Africans headed to Europe via Libya confirmed the survey results that migrants are motivated primarily by the quest for economic opportunities.
◦ As one Ivoirien stated, “I can’t just continue to sit in my parents’ house with no money or options.”
◦ In a focus group held in Agadez one woman of Togolese origin stated she left her country “because there is no money there.”
CHALLENGES: UNFAVOURABLE MIGRATION POLICIES- ENHANCES IRREGULAR MIGRATION
◦ Migration is life, and we must address inherent issues that endanger West Africans: The relationship between migration and development is highly contingent. Migration is ‘life’ and without movements, there is no civilization.
◦ To reduce migratory pressures at Europe’s southern border, EU countries have attempted to “externalize” border controls towards the Maghreb countries by transforming them into a “buffer zone” (Goldschmidt, 2006; Lutterbeck, 2006; Perrin, 2005; Schuster, 2005). They have done so by pressuring certain North African countries to clamp down on irregular migration, toughening immigration law (Belguendouz, 2005; Boubakri, 2006), and to re-admit irregular sub-Saharan migrants from Europe and expelling them from their own national
◦ Increasing border controls have rather led to the swift diversion of migration routes and an increase in the risks, costs, and suffering of the migrants involved rather than a decline in migration. As long as no more legal channels for immigration are created to match the real demand for labour, and as long as large informal economies will exist, it is also likely that a substantial proportion of this migration will remain irregular. Policies to “combat illegal migration” not only criminalize migration but are also bound to fail because they are among the very causes of the phenomenon they pretend to combat.
CHALLENGES: MIGRATION, POLICY & DEVELOPMENT:
Migration from West Africa to the Maghreb and Europe will continue. There is a growing discrepancy between restrictive migration policies and the demand for cheap migrant labour in Libya and Europe.
Negative Effects of Migration-
◦ Discrimination against African (black) migrants: is a reality in most countries where indigenes feel threatened by the prosperity of the newly arrived who usually have one major aim of success in whatever endeavor they engage in, which spurs them on.
◦ Abuse and exploitation, especially for women, children
◦ Harassment and lack of legal work
◦ Shame & degradation of life
◦ Loss of lives.
◦ Brain drain
WHAT IS THE WAY OUT?
◦ Reduce the appeal of irregular migration: by educating prospective migrants on legal migration pathways and credible livelihood alternatives.
◦ Education & Community outreach intervention – Educational outreach & community engagement has proven to be an effective, community-based method to disseminate information, raise awareness and influence attitudes. This includes reaching schools to re-orientate the minds and behavior of students.
◦ Women-focused campaign: intensify women to reach ore marginalised women, At the moment, the online forums are open to both men and women however, as the pages are quite male-dominated, it is culturally normal for women to be intimidated or feel unsafe to speak up.
◦ Livelihood Opportunities: Connect and empower more youths to livelihood opportunities. By working and collaborating with even more partners.
◦ Security & improved border control: An important challenge to migration in the West African sub-region is the paucity in the enforcement of the ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) protocol on entry, residence and settlement.
◦ Reinforced commitment to ECOWAS Commission by member States
◦ Improve Regional Data sharing Mechanism for Migration and work towards implementation, continuous monitoring and improvement.
◦ Economy & an enabling environment to work: Africa needs to fix itself, from leadership, policy, development, representation and development cooperation.
◦ Development Cooperation: enhanced cooperation between East Africa, West Africa, North Africa and Europe on labour migration.
– The need for country-to-country agreements on easy migration. E.G, Nigeria-Germany on skills training and exchange.
-see: https://www.unhcr.org/49e47c8f11.pdf
“THE WEST AFRICAN CONTEXT”
Media and dominant conversations in migration discourses convey a situation and image of an increasingly massive exodus of desperate Africans fleeing poverty and war at home trying to enter the elusive European “El Dorado” crammed in long-worn ships barely staying afloat (Pastore et al., 2006).
The migrants themselves are commonly depicted as victims recruited by “merciless” and “unscrupulous” traffickers and smugglers. Hence, the perceived policy solutions—which invariably boil down to curbing migration—focus on “fighting” or “combating” irregular migration through intensifying border controls and cracking down trafficking and smuggling-related crime.
Although there has been an incontestable increase in regular and irregular West African migration to Europe over the past decade, available empirical evidence dispels most of these assumptions.
◦ First, irregular migration from Africa to Europe is not as new as is commonly suggested. Illegal sea crossings of the Mediterranean by North Africans have in fact been a persistent phenomenon since Italy and Spain introduced visa requirements in the early 1990s.
◦ The major change has been that, in particular, since 2000, sub-Saharan Africans have started to join and have now overtaken North Africans as the largest category of irregular boat migrants.
◦ Second, it is a misconception that all or most migrants crossing the Sahara are “in transit” to Europe. There are possibly more sub-Saharan Africans living in the Maghreb than in Europe.
◦ An estimated 65,000 and 120,000 sub-Saharan Africans enter the Maghreb yearly overland, of which only 20 to 38 per cent are estimated to enter Europe.
◦ While Libya is an important destination country in its own right, many migrants failing or not venturing to enter Europe prefer to stay in North Africa as a second-best option.
◦ Third, the majority of West Africans enter Europe legally. In recent years, the total annual increase of the registered West African population in the EU has been around 100,000. The total number of successful irregular crossings by sub-Saharan Africans should be counted in the order of several tens of thousands, according to our estimates 25,000 to 35,000 per year, which is only a fraction of total EU immigration of 2.6 million in 2004.
◦ The majority of migrants enter Europe legally and subsequently overstay their visas. Fourth, despite a recent increase, West African migration to the EU is still relatively modest in comparison with migration from North Africa and Eastern Europe.
◦ Since the 1990s, European states intensified border controls and have attempted to “externalize” these policies by pressuring certain North African countries to clamp down on irregular migration and to sign readmission agreements in exchange for aid, financial support, and work permits. While failing to curb immigration, these policies have had a series of unintended side effects in the form of increasing violations of migrants’ rights and diversification of trans-Saharan migration routes and attempted sea crossing points.
◦ Over the last 15 years, there has been an incontestable increase in regular and irregular migration of West Africans to the Maghreb and Europe. Nevertheless, this study showed that trans-Mediterranean migration from Africa to Europe is not as new and massive as is commonly perceived. There is also no evidence that irregular migration from Africa to Europe is growing at an “alarming” rate.
◦ The available empirical evidence also dispels the general image of a massive exodus of desperate Africans fleeing war and poverty, who, in search of the European “El Dorado”, fall victim to merciless and unscrupulous smugglers and traffickers who deceive them about the perils of the journey through desert and sea.
◦ West African migration to the EU is relatively modest in comparison with migration from North Africa and Eastern Europe. There are an estimated 800,000 registered West African migrants in the main European receiving countries compared to 2,600,000 North Africans. Moroccan immigrants alone outnumber all West African immigrants in Europe.
Media: Why The West African Context Matters.
◦ West African media has an important role to play in reporting migration and associated trends, to shape it’s own narrative. This can only be achieved with proper reporting, research and funding.
◦ Tell more human angled stories about migration, give a human face to our stories and amplify the important role that African migrants contribute to other economies, particularly in EU countries.
◦ Mainstream more migration issues, with adequate research: Although there has been an increase in trans-Saharan and trans-Mediterranean migration to the Maghreb and Europe, intra-regional migration remains far more important than migration from West Africa to the rest of the world.
◦ Our numbers need to add up, and only the media can amplify this: The total annual increase of the registered West African population in Europe is estimated at about 100,000. West African migrants represent about 6.4 per cent of the total registered non-European immigrant populations in the main European destination countries.
◦ Promote the power of the media: exposing migration anomalies, influencing public interest and policy change. A gloss on the recent suspension of Lebanon work visa issuance to Nigerians due to the auctioning of a Nigerian lady online. (media coverage was not amplified enough in Nigeria).
◦ Continuous Training & Development on migration reporting: no doubt media practitioners need support , however, there must be intentionality in finding more sustainable and creative ways to develop Africa’s media practitioners (particularly Journalists) involved in on-going personal and professional development.
◦ References
◦ The World Bank, “The World Bank in Nigeria”, 2017; The World Bank, “GDP per Capita”, 2017.
◦ Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), “Nigeria Conflict Displacement Update”, 2017.
◦ The World Bank, “The World Bank in Nigeria”, 2017.
◦ Trading Economics, “Nigeria Youth Unemployment Rate”, 2018; Gabriel, Omoh, “Youth Unemployment in Nigeria up to 50 percent – McKinsey & Co”, 2015; Taiwo, Shakirudeen, “61.6% of Nigerian Youth are unemployed – NBS says”, 2017.
◦ Seefar’s research referenced throughout this report can be found in two main sources: Optimity Advisors and Seefar, “How West African migrants engage with migration information en-route to Europe”, 2017; and: Seefar, “From Destination to Transit: Irregular Migrants from West Africa in Libya”, 2017. If not referenced otherwise, and to avoid extensive footnotes, the data presented in the upcoming sections refers to this primary research on irregular migration carried out by Seefar.
◦ References Adepoju, A. 1976. “Structure and patterns of Rural Society in Relation to Internal migration in Nigeria”, in Odumosu, I.O., Aluko, S.A and Adepoju, A. (Eds) Problems of migration in Nigeria. Ibadan, National Council of social work in Nigeria, 1976.
◦ Adepoju A. 2005. Migration in West Africa. A paper prepared for the Policy Analysis and Research Programme of the Global Commission on International Migration (GCIM)
◦ Adepoju, A. (2000). “Fostering Free Movement of Persons in West Africa: Achievements, Constraints, and Prospects for Intraregional migration”. International Migration Review 40(2): 3-28. Anarfi J, Kwankye S. 2003. Migration from and to Ghana:
◦ A Background Paper. University of Sussex: DRC on Migration, Globalisation and Poverty Arthur J. A. 1991. International Labour Migration Patterns in West Africa. African Studies Review 34 65-87 Bump M. 2006. Ghana: Searching for Opportunities at Home and Abroad.