User:Stylish sisi

WHY AFRICAN YOUTH MIGRATE TO WESTERN COUNTRIES!!!

Over 600 000 African migrants have arrived in Italy through the perilous Central Mediterranean route since 2014, and nearly 120 000 arrived in 2017 alone according to the International Organization of Migration (IOM). The route is notoriously dangerous, with risks including making a journey through the Sahara Desert, indefinite detention in bleak conditions in Libya, and capsizing at sea. Though migration numbers dropped significantly in 2017, nearly 20 000 migrants were picked up by the Libyan Coast Guard. Migration through Niger and onto Libya has garnered so much attention that European governments have scrambled to slow down the movement. The implications of migration through the Central Mediterranean route are significant. First, the migration of young and educated workers from a region where human capital is already a scarcity will create a brain drain in an already vulnerable region. Second, the movement of sub-Saharan Africans through North Africa and on to Europe has significant implications for development assistance in West Africa. Third, further understanding the characteristics and motivations behind migration through the Central Mediterranean route is highly relevant for European governments, who have invested significantly in security measures and development assistance to prevent further migration in recent years. Finally, trans-Saharan migration has amounted to a serious humanitarian situation, with people being smuggled across deadly routes, trapped in detention centres, or dying at sea. This article fills a crucial gap on the topic of West African migration patterns and the Central Mediterranean route. Several reasons for West African migration are commonly circulated, but they are not based on quantitative survey data. Relying on public opinion and focus group data collected in West Africa, this article examines what motivates West Africans to leave their countries. It then focuses on Nigeria, the country of origin for a quarter of all Africans traveling through the Central Mediterranean route. The first, and most prominent, contribution of this presentation is to provide recent and systematic data on the motivations of West Africans to migrate abroad. For this research agenda, the dataset is unique: it is the first examination of migration motivations at the individual level in a nationwide survey. Second, it examines the effect of a variety of push factors —economic, social and political— on a Nigerian individual’s desire to migrate. Key findings • Migrants prepare their journey carefully. In focus groups held with West Africans transiting through Niger on their way to Libya, participants described the years of planning they undertook to make their journey, selling personal possessions, saving money, and relying on their social networks to access resources vital to making the voyage. They gained information to guide their journey through social media tools such as Facebook and WhatsApp both in their country of origin and during their journey. • 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.