Africa and the migrants’ crisis
The two- day conference on migrants’ crisis hosted in Marrakesh, Morocco is coming at the right time, as the European Union has been grappling with the issue of huge migration from Africa and the Middle East since 2015. However, it is noteworthy that the intervention of the world body will ease tension, just as world […]
The two- day conference on migrants’ crisis hosted in Marrakesh, Morocco is coming at the right time, as the European Union has been grappling with the issue of huge migration from Africa and the Middle East since 2015.
However, it is noteworthy that the intervention of the world body will ease tension, just as world leaders gathered to address the menace of irregular migrants especially from the sub-Saharan Africa.
The global compact for migration was also adopted in Marrakesh UN Accord after two years of intense negotiations. The agreement is non-binding, as reports of Aljazeera news indicated, but this is a unique opportunity to address the issue of immigration and refugee crisis with world leaders.
The deal stresses the need to protect migrants and resettle them, but many countries have pulled out of the deal, it encourages illegal migration. What a shame! And the countries that declined assent to the deal failed to look at the migrants crisis as one that deserve urgent solution and, as first humanity than defending territorial issue.
And as, the UN is calling on countries to do the needful, the world cannot look the other way or pretend the problem is not crucial that requires global appeal.
This is because the recent figure released by Pew Research center on illegal immigrants from African continent is alarming and call for urgent action. It says that Sub- Saharan African nations account for eight of the 10 fastest growing international migrant populations since 2010. The analysis of the latest United Nations data on the number of emigrants, or people living outside their country of birth.
The number of emigrants from each of these Sub- Saharan countries grew by 50% or more between 2010 and 2017, significantly more than the 17% worldwide average increase for the same period. At the country level, only Syria had a higher rate of growth in its number of people living in other countries.
For example, reports indicate hundreds of thousands of emigrants from the South of the Sahara Desert have gathered in Libya in hopes of crossing the Mediterranean into Europe.
Many live in overcrowded, crime- ridden camps while they wait to make the journey, with some allegedly even being sold in slave auction. Slavery, in the 21s century! the number is expected to increase in coming decades.
It is very unfortunate that emigrants are subjected to dehumanized condition in Libya, as some of the trapped emigrants are enslaved, tortured and even raped. As a result of this bad treatment, it led to a confrontation, as well as alleged threat to the lives of an NGO involved in humanitarian work by both the Italian Coast Guard and the Libyan Coast Guard.
Spanish humanitarian organization, proactive open Arms, was accused by the Italian Coast Guard of facilitating the flow of immigrants into it soil.
The NGO said it declined the Libyan Coast Guard orders because of its concerns about the conditions in which returned migrants are being held in Libya.
The UN should also, as a matter of urgency put in place a protocol/ treaty binding on nations to protect immigrants as they landed in their soil on humanitarian ground.
It’s also important to support the Niger Republic, in this direction because, this is a transit country for migrants and the Saharan route is notorious for its dangers.
Nigerien authority enacted a law in 2015, making people smuggling a punishable by a jail term of up to 30 years and the armed forces also stepped up patrols in the desert.
The EU, and the international donor agencies should increase funding and technical support to Niger as well as other Sahel countries; Mali, Mauritania, Burkina Faso and Chad.
Abdullateef Tanko, Abuja