The United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres was quoted to have said that migration is a powerful driver of economic growth, dynamism,
To buttress Guterres’ assertion, facts have also shown that throughout human history, migration has been a courageous expression of an individual’s will to overcome adversity, and to live a better life. Today, globalization, alongside advances in communications and transportation, has greatly increased the number of people who have the desire and the capacity to move to other places.
As the world celebrates International Migrants Day (IMD) today, it is only natural to state that the issue of irregular migration by Nigerians to Europe, America,
Statistics have shown that as at 2017, there were over 258 million international migrants globally, which translates to 3.4 percent of the world’s population.
Reports have also indicated that since 2000, the total number of international migrants has increased by almost 50 percent, making the number of international migrants grow faster than the global population. According to the report, 52 percent of these migrants are male while the remaining 48 percent are female.
However, much as it is desirable to migrate from one country to another, ostensibly in search of work for a better living, such a move must follow the legally approved procedures. Work has been identified as the major reason that people migrate internationally, and migrant workers constitute a large majority of the world’s international migrants.
United States of America, Germany, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirate, Canada, France, Australia, Spain, Italy and India have been identified as the top choice destination countries for international migrants, with Europe and Asia leading the pack.
Speaking about today’s event, a migrant expert, Osita Osemene said: “There is absolutely nothing wrong in people moving from their country of origin to another country to reside. But, the problem is when you want to do that through the illegal means and that is the problem we have with most Nigerians. We have said it time and time again that those who have genuine reasons to travel abroad should go, following the legally laid down process, but those who want to follow the desert should think twice because many have perished journeying through that route.
“This issue of irregular migration has pushed global displacement to an unprecedented level, with the number of internally displaced persons and refugees at over 40 million and over 22 million respectively. Internal migration is even more prevalent, with the most recent global estimate indicating that more than 740 million people had migrated within their own country of birth.”
Such factors as, the quest for economic prosperity, inequality, demography, violence,
Report has shown that this year alone, over 107,583 migrants have crossed the Mediterranean, with over 2,000 dying in their attempt to enter into Europe.
Irregular migration has become a serious concern to both local and international authorities, with its attendant socio-political and economic implications.
Investigation has shown that Africans constitute a high percentage of irregular migrants, who are attempting to reach Europe. And irregular migration, for what it is, is closely related to human trafficking, which is the third most organised transnational crime against humanity.
As the world celebrates the 2018 International Migrants Day, it is also very important to remind the Nigerians youths that over 10,000 Nigerians, who were trapped in Libya, while trying to cross over to Europe illegally, have voluntarily returned home due to the hardship and inhumane conditions over there. Those are the lucky ones. Majority of Nigerians are languishing in various detention camps in Libya, while several others have died.
However, that is not to say that migration is bad; what is bad and dangerous is irregular migration. To buttress the fact that migration is not bad if it follows the legal procedures, on September 19, 2016, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a set of commitments during its first -ever summit on large movements of refugees and migrants to enhance the protection of refugees and migrants.
These commitments, known as the ‘New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants (NY Declaration),’ reaffirms the importance of the international protection regime and represents a commitment by member states to strengthen and enhance mechanisms to protect people on the move. It paves the way for the adoption of two new global compacts in 2018 – the global compact on refugees and the global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration.
