Tragedy on the way to Europe: a perspective from Africa

Abstract

s Europe grapples with the challenges of responding to the arrival of large numbers of migrants, it is vital to keep in mind that the people involved have not left their homes and countries for no reason. Many of them would rather have stayed at home. In a sense, they were forced into migrating.

The current migration from Africa to Europe is a symptom of deeply rooted problems that exist on the continent. While there is some truth to the narrative that some progress has been made and that the economies of some of the countries in Africa are registering growth, the overall picture among the grassroots populations across Africa is rather different. The majority continue to live in abject poverty, cannot access good health care, do not have clean water, are not able to send their children to decent schools, and are unable to pay corrupt government officials to receive services to which they are entitled. The sense of desperation that drives them also to move to Europe can mistakenly appear to be scarcely different from that of those who come from relatively stable countries.

Apart from war and persecution, the current migration to Europe from Africa is driven largely by the huge unemployment that exists on the continent, with an ever expanding human resource-base that subsists in dismal conditions, without hope of improvement. Many young people find themselves with little option but to move to urban centres with the hope that they would find work and live a decent life. They spend years walking the streets in search of employment that does not exist. Without work, and a worthwhile future ahead of them, a sense of hopelessness sets in. This leads them to think that the solution is to be found elsewhere. The rural-urban migration to non-existent urban employment in turn leads to emigration elsewhere. In their perception, Europe offers all the answers to their state of hopelessness. That is, until they reach there and then the harsh reality unfolds before them, with nowhere to sleep, no food, no health care, cold and lonely.