23 Aug 2006: ISS Today: Migrants Fleeing Poverty Brave Sahara Desert to Reach Europe
23 August 2006: Migrants Fleeing Poverty Brave Sahara Desert to Reach Europe
At least 200,000 Africans enter Europe clandestinely every year, while 100,000 more try but are intercepted and countless others try but lose their way or their lives.
Commentary
African and international media are full of stories of Africans braving all odds to migrate to Europe and other places in search of greener pastures. On 17 August, for instance, the Pretoria News carried a news item in which it highlighted the phenomenal rate at which Africans are migrating to European countries. Incidentally, it is the economically active youth who are migrating in their hundreds to the rich countries, with the hope of improving their standard of living.
However, many of the migrants, including those being trafficked, put their lives at great risk as they attempt to cross the Sahara desert, or travel by boats that are not seaworthy and end up becoming destitute, or being affected by illnesses associated with hunger. In many instances, some tragically lose their lives as their boats capsize or unscrupulous crew throw them overboard to escape coast guards of the host countries.
What could be the reasons for this alarming rate of migration, even in spite of the dangers involved? The obvious reasons could be a combination of the crass poverty, underdevelopment, political instability, violent armed conflicts, crime, unemployment, natural disasters, corruption, nepotism and the high incidence of pandemics such as HIV/AIDS.
Estimates indicate that about 20,000 skilled professionals are leaving the African continent annually, resulting in a brain drain that is depriving Africa of skilled manpower, such as doctors, nurses, teachers and engineers, who have been trained at great expense to the weak economies of the continent. This emigration of skilled professionals is a cost to the economies of Africa. In addition to this cost, the much needed skilled professionals rather contribute to economic growth of European and other countries. As a result, the health sector, for example, is short of critical medical staff, who have left to fill the shortages in countries like U.K, the U.S and Australia, which depend on migrant expertise to solve their own shortages.
In South Africa and several other African countries, new graduates are struggling to find jobs because of the slow rate of economic growth and development. Thus, even though most young people would want to stay in Africa and contribute to its development, the lack of economic opportunities forces them to migrate. The dilemma, therefore, is that in view of the poverty, conflicts, diseases and corruption within the continent, Africa cannot compete with the strong economies of Europe that can afford to pay better salaries, and provide good working and living conditions in a climate of political stability.
Nonetheless, there is an urgent need to halt the pace of this migration, if the continent is to be able to achieve the United Nations Millennium Development Goals aiming at halving poverty by 2015. The situation behoves governments to seriously address the rate of unemployment first in order to stop the brain drain; second to save the lives of those who are perishing in attempts to migrate to look for jobs abroad; and third to retain the skilled manpower for Africa’s own development and thus turn the brain drain into brain gain. This fits with Nepad’s key human resource development initiative of aiming to build capacity for Africa’s development.
But Africa cannot solve the problem alone. The continent will need to closely collaborate with Europe in formulating joint approaches to reduce socio-economic, political and environmental challenges that impact negatively on development within the continent. This will ensure that the migration will be by choice, rather than by necessity.
In addition, however, because the phenomenon is a global one affecting not only Africa, but other developing regions, there is need for a global conference under UN auspices, to strengthen existing normative instruments for the protection of migrants.
Itani Ntsieni, Training for Peace Programme, ISS Pretoria
