Africa rises to curb migration crisis

THE world today battles many problems. From drug trade and its consequences on citizens of the world, to illicit financial flows which are used in funding transnational organized crimes;  to human trafficking, terrorism and now illegal migration which has generated a lot of problems to the destination countries as well as to the countries of departure.

 Illegal migration affects many third world countries from Africa to Asia to the Middle East and elsewhere in the world. The reasons for such migration range from poverty to hunger, environmental issues and now terrorism. Illegal migration is not a new phenomenon in Africa. For so many years, Africans, especially West Africans have taken these risky journeys to reach the borders of European countries, obviously because of the region’s proximity to some European countries such as Italy and Spain. 

These perilous journeys have seen many perish in the Mediterranean sea and in deserts as they transverse the expansive Sahara desert and the countries around the area to reach the shores of Tunisia, Libya and Egypt from where they get into Italy. From Morocco, they cross into Spain. On arrival, for as many that are lucky to be able to make the journey through, they live as illegal immigrants and struggle for survival.

There have been many reports about how some have been forced to go hungry for days and weeks, and how they have managed to keep hydrated in the deserts by drinking the urine of themselves and of others.

Africans, born and raised as free citizens in their home countries, with full rights and privileges, have chosen such harrowing experiences just to reach the shores of other nations where they have to live as second class citizens, running and hiding, many times having to indulge in petty crimes to survive, for one major reason-economic empowerment.

In April, about 900 African migrants sank off the coasts of Libya as they strove to make it to Italy. This incident is described as the world’s worst disaster involving migrants who are being smuggled to Europe.

According to Italian interior ministry, the boat went down overnight about 60 miles (96km) off the Libyan coast and 120 miles (193km) south of the Italian island of Lampedusa. So far, it is reported that at least 1,500 migrants have died in 2015 en-route Europe. This is at least 30 times higher than the figure for 2014.

The problem of migration, whether legal or illegal, is enormous on the host country; and could elicit some reactions from citizens of the host countries. An example is the hard stance of European countries on the matter, whereby citizens of Italy and even Pope Benedict XVI have had to plead with authorities to resume the rescue operations on the Mediterranean which saved about 100,000 lives last year. The country had reportedly stopped the operation because it is said to have encouraged migrants to make more trips to Europe.

UNHCR figures suggest that some 25,000 people fled to Italy from North Africa in 2005, a number which dwindled to 9,573 in 2009. In 2011, this figure drastically increased to 61,000, driven by the conflict in Libya which culminated in the downfall of Col. Mamman Gaddafi. Earlier in the decade, the most popular route was from West Africa to Spain, including its North African territories of Ceuta and Melilla, and the Canary Islands, with some 32,000 irregular arrivals in 2006. This figure had dwindled to just 5,443 by 2011.

However, having been jolted by the about 900 lives lost at sea in April, among others, Africa is now chatting the way forward to tackling the nagging migration crisis that has hit the world.

At a recent Regional Seminar on Information and Migration held in Abuja, stakeholders from both English and French speaking West African countries emphasized the need for Africa to begin to tackle its own problems from within.

It was the view of participants at the seminar that intra-regional migration within Africa is much greater than emigration outside the continent. About 7.5 million West African migrants are said to be in other nations within the region compared to one million in Europe and North America. This mobility within Africa is attributed to historical, socio-cultural as well as economic reasons.

While the seminar highlighted challenges associated with migration, it was of the view that not all about migrants is bad, especially in view of migration within Africa and the xenophobic attacks that happened in South Africa. Stakeholders, therefore, called on the African Union (AU), as well as other regional bodies, one of which is ECOWAS, to ensure that laws for the protection of migrants feature prominently in national laws of countries in Africa.

Participants at the seminar were of the opinion that migration has been a critical issue not only in Europe, but across Africa, where a lot of migrants have had their rights trampled upon and foreign nationals involved have been maltreated without access to basic needs such as health facilities, education and other amenities.

Seeking to tackle hostilities towards foreign nationals by locals who think the migrants had come to snatch their jobs, one of the resource persons at the programme, Aboubacry Mbodji, urged Africans to consider the good side of migration in terms of the positive economic impact that migrants have on their host countries.

He raised the issue of illegal detention and inhuman treatment in detention as some of the conditions faced by migrants and enjoined AU to coordinate the harmonization of migration laws of the different countries on the continent in order to ensure that the rights of migrants are protected in accordance with the African Charter on Human Rights which serves as the constitution of the continental body.

“No country has the right to expel migrants within its borders”, he said, adding that though Mauritania is guilty of this, since it is a member of the AU, it can be compelled to act rightly. “The regional bodies will have to harmonise their strategies to handling migrant issues. ECOWAS is taking the lead but AU is dragging its feet”, he said.

Another resource person who spoke on the issue, Mamadou Mbengue from Senegal, suggested that one way Africa can deal with migrant crisis within the continent is to work towards integrating migrants into their host countries.

He added that the regional bodies such as ECOWAS can take the lead in ensuring this by establishing a common currency. According to him, ECOWAS has a protocol on the freedom of movement in the region but very many of the citizens are yet to be aware of this. He urged better enlightenment to enhance people’s knowledge about the legal instruments that help their migrant status.

Though this seminar has chosen to tackle the migration issue from the home perspective, the African Union is perhaps set to lead the way from a broader perspective. At the just concluded African Summit held in South Africa, Chairperson of the African Union Commission,  Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma called on African leaders to commence working towards redeeming Africa and making the continent take its destiny in its hands by working to reduce and probably eliminate the problem of African migrants risking death at sea to reach the borders of industrialized nations.

Zuma, in a welcome speech at the 25th Ordinary Session of the African Union Assembly of Heads of State and Government, stated that it has become important for Africa at this time, to invest efforts in providing skills for its youths and women in areas such as ICT, technology, science among others, in order to provide much needed employment and empowerment that will deter African youths from resolving to take the risky journeys.

She also noted that from 2016, practical efforts will be in motion to ensure that the AU Commission begins to fund its own programmes with funds from within Africa, making the continent less dependent on foreign aids and donations. She also noted during the meeting that providing skills and employment for Africans will ensure that problems of migration is stopped and that African youths no longer sleep at the borders with the industrialized world.

Zuma also enjoined the African Presidents and Prime Ministers to work vigorously to stop the activities of terrorists and bring peace to conflict stricken areas of the continent. Of immense importance, according to her, is the need for Africa to unite against the ills that bedevil it in order to bring prosperity to abide on the continent; and more importantly, to ensure that Africans are not compelled to seek greener pastures elsewhere in the industrialized world.

“Our resolve to silence the guns, must therefore give hope to women and children suffering from the terror of Boko Haram and Al Shabaab.  Our resolve must provide renewed hope to the peoples in conflict ridden areas in Darfur, East DRC, Libya, Mali, Somalia, and South Sudan, where lives and livelihoods have been shattered.

“Indeed, if we educate and skill our people, with an emphasis on science, engineering, technology, mathematics resource and innovation, including technical and vocational skills; our people will stop undertaking the perilous journeys across the Sahel and the Mediterranean Sea.

When we undertake this skills revolution, extremists, armed groups and terrorists will find it difficult, if not impossible, to recruit our young women and men. Instead, our youths will have the skills to generate electricity, including renewable energy.

“They will produce enough food for the entire Africa, as they modernise and grow agriculture and agro-processing, and agribusiness.

They will stop camping at the borders (and shores) of the industrial world, but will transform our economies through industrialisation, manufacturing and by adding value to our natural resources.

They will develop our blue economy and build our infrastructure, connecting our capitals and commercial centres through ICT, and through highways, rail, aviation and oceanic and waterways. They will ensure that this is done through the most modern of technology, including the Pan African high speed rail network.

“They will create a uniquely African continent whose economic development will not only be based on profit, but on the needs of the people, driven by the youths and women.  They will create a prosperous and non-sexist continent. They will take charge of our outer space.” Zuma said.