VICTOR AYENI writes on the desperation by many, especially young people, to leave the country through irregular means, given the insecurity and economic challenges bedeviling the country

Nicholas Udoh wore a resolute countenance as he sat back in his chair in his Ogba shop in Lagos after attending to one of his customers.

The 31-year-old who hails from Uyo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State was determined to leave the shores of the country by all means possible.

Udoh had been contacted by a family friend from his hometown, Emmanuel, who resides in Cyprus and had been the one encouraging him to relocate to the island country, situated in the eastern Mediterranean Sea.

He told Saturday PUNCH that his family friend had told him to look for N3m to take care of the voyage as they might have to explore other means to leave the country. “The plan is to take the Libyan route, cross the sea and I will be in Cyprus with others,” he explained. “He said I would be able to start a new life and that if I could survive in Nigeria, surviving there wouldn’t be so difficult.

“The problem now is how to get N3m with my crayfish business. I’m an orphan and I don’t have anyone to help me. My uncle is also hustling to make ends meet. I’m frustrated in this country. I’m not educated, so I can’t even get a formal job. I’m still in my 30s.”

Udoh told our correspondent that Emmanuel advised him that the easiest way for him to become a legal migrant in Cyprus was to marry a citizen, even if she were far older in age. “I’m ready to embrace my new life and once I can become a legal migrant, I only have to endure and be ready to work hard,” he added.

Like Udoh, many Nigerian youths are desperate to escape their squalid realities and undertake dangerous journeys to enter European countries through irregular routes.

In July, Al Jazeera reported that four Nigerian migrants, after two weeks at sea, landed in the south-eastern port city of Victoria in Brazil. Throughout the duration of the death-defying journey, the men perched in a cramped space on the rudder of a large container ship, dangerously close to its propeller.

Hoping the ship was headed for Europe, they held themselves stable around the rudder by tying themselves with a fish net, as they sailed across the Atlantic Ocean from Africa.

“They came to ask me, do you know where you are and I said no. And they said, ‘This is Brazil.’ That was the first thing that they said and I said ‘Wow, so this is Brazil? I made it to Brazil.’ I am happy,” one of the migrants, Roman Friday, said in an interview with Al Jazeera.

The second man, Opemipo Yeye, said, “It was a terrible experience for me, being the first time, because I have never tried that before. But I already made up my mind to leave (Nigeria) so I just summoned the courage, but then it wasn’t easy.

“With the sea and the shaking of the ship, I was so scared. But I am here in Brazil. Before I came here, I was homeless. My wife and family were staying in another place so I just had to make up my mind.”

They both admitted they went on the perilous voyage because of economic hardship and state of the country. While the other two returned to Nigeria in August, the migrants have applied for asylum in Brazil. For them, the intercontinental voyages are over, while the pursuit of a better life continues.

Chasing a pot of gold

Within eight years, there has been an intensified fervour among the young population who are seeking an illusory pot of gold at the bottom of a rainbow they believe is nestled in foreign countries.

Sadly, many of them embark on the journey to Europe through the Libyan route – one that has proven to be among the riskiest for many migrants, and not everyone makes it alive to their destination. Hundreds of Nigerians have been repatriated from Libya, with many of them coming back distressed.

The collation done by our correspondent, based on figures released by the National Emergency Management Agency, indicated that no fewer than 10,116 stranded Nigerians were assisted to return home by the IOM from 10 different countries between 2017 and 2018. The majority of the returnees were repatriated from Libya.

In December 2018, however, NEMA disclosed that at least 11,833 Nigerians had been repatriated from Libya between March 2017 and November 2018, adding that 4,123 migrants were returned to the country from Libya between January and December 2018.

Following the conflict in Libya in 2019, no fewer than 2,078 Nigerian migrants were repatriated based on estimates derived from media reports and figures from the IOM.

In 2020, about 14,977 irregular migrants from Libya were assisted to return to the country based on separate estimates provided by NEMA and media reports.

In 2021, about 733 Nigerians stranded in Libya were repatriated to the country, while the IOM revealed that it had brought back 21,500 stranded Nigerians from Libya and Mali, among others, between 2017 and 2021.

According to the Federal Government, over 3,159 stranded Nigerian migrants were repatriated between January and November 2022, although the IOM indicated that it repatriated 19,452 Nigerians between April 2017 and February 2022.

Based on estimates given by NEMA and the IOM, no fewer than 1,492 returnees from Libya were assisted to return to the country between January and September 2023.

These highlight the rate at which many Nigerians were leaving the country and daring to take illegal routes to migrate to Europe.

Narrating his experience, a returnee, Kenny Obi, who now lives in Abuja, described how his journey to Europe started in 2016 after he tried to get a job but couldn’t.

He stated, “I tried so hard to get a job but I couldn’t. At a time, I became depressed even to the point of contemplating suicide. But With the help of my cousin, Razak, I set out on the journey in June of that year. All I had to do was to cross the border into Niger Republic, and from there, the person would pick me up.

“The first leg of the journey was from Abuja to Sokoto and Razak stayed in touch. I was able to cross the border into Niger Republic. From there, I boarded a luxurious bus, though it took us about three days to get to Agadez where I met a human trafficker who has a camp there. I saw more than 1,000 Nigerian youths there and others from West Africa.

“From Niger, we travelled for eight days to Libya. We were in a convoy of over 50 vehicles, each carrying about 30 persons. Before long, the heat of the desert and the thirst became unbearable and at a point, we resorted to drinking our own urine. That was the only alternative, otherwise, one would die.”

Obi further disclosed that they were apprehended by soldiers at a checkpoint along the Libyan border where their phones and money were seized. “They then forced us to turn in another direction and they started raping our girls right there in our presence, anyone who tried to look at them was beaten,” Obi added.

After two years and three failed attempts to cross the Mediterranean, the migrants were sold to several gangs and their hopes of getting to Europe soon gave way to despair. Obi was finally rescued and repatriated to Nigeria.

For Nigerian migrants who succeed in entering foreign countries through the Mediterranean Sea or through the Libyan route, they are interchangeably described as “irregular,” “undocumented” and “unauthorised.”

Irregular migration, according to the International Organisation for Migration, is defined as “movement that takes place outside the regulatory norms of the sending, transit and receiving country.”

The IOM further notes that a migrant in an irregular situation may enter the country irregularly, for instance with false documents or without crossing an official border crossing point; or may reside in the country irregularly, for instance, in violation of the terms of an entry visa/residence permit.

The third category is migrants who are employed in the country irregularly. For instance, they may have the right to reside but not to take up paid employment in the country.

The Migration Data Portal, an online resource managed by the Global Migration Data Analysis Centre, notes that “changes in national laws and policies could turn regular migration into irregular migration, and vice-versa. It noted that the status of migrants could change during their journey and stay in the country of transit/destination, which makes it difficult to have a comprehensive picture of irregular migration and the profiles of irregular migrants.”

A United Kingdom-based Nigerian medical doctor, Kunle Oredola, told our correspondent that he came across a group of irregular migrants being housed by a fellow Nigerian.

“In Britain, it is very illegal and they are often hunted down like rats by the authorities. When I visited the house where fellow citizens were staying, I was sad. The house was so small and they were 15 in number. It didn’t even have proper plumbing and they had to hide in the basement. It’s not a good life at all,” he noted.

Dangerous voyages

The central Mediterranean crossing between Libya and Italy or Malta is by far the deadliest in the world, according to figures by IOM.

Findings by Saturday PUNCH revealed that since 2013, more than 10,000 migrants consisting of men, women and children had died trying to cross that stretch of water.

In a documentary titled ‘Europe’s Migration Tragedy’, the sea crossing off the coast of Valleta, Malta where migrant ships from Libya enter into Europe has been identified as the spot where thousands of migrants are saved and thousands die.

Travelling with rescuers, medics and sailors, who know their roads and the challenges, volunteers from medical humanitarian organisations usually launch their own search and rescue missions to help the voyagers who often travel in rubber dinghies and wooden boats.

Smugglers, according to Sky News, bring the migrants together on the beaches of the towns dotting the coastline, but few of the migrants are actually from Libya.

It was gathered that many of these migrants are from Nigeria, Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Mali who travel to Libya because it is the gateway to Europe.

However, the Mediterranean Sea, which is about 39 miles from the Libyan coast, on which they travel is vast and it often takes 24 hours to travel from Malta to the area where their boats often run into trouble.

Nigerian migrants, among others, are exposed to the harsh sun during the day and the raging waters which stoke consistent panic and discomfort in the migrants. The rest who have yet to make it to the sea are still held captive in detention centres in Libya and are subjected to inhuman conditions.

A report by the International Labour Organisation indicated that traffickers exploit about 25 million people annually for gain. About 17 per cent were trafficked for forced labour, while 80 per cent were trafficked for sexual exploitation.

In August, the Federal Government, with the support of the IOM evacuated 139 Nigerian irregular migrants freed from detention centres across Libya.

The Charge D’Affaires En Titre, Kabiru Musa, in a statement, noted that the evacuees comprised 85 males, 51 females, two children, and one infant.

“This is the third exercise we have conducted within the past month, and the Federal Government is committed to ensuring that none of its citizens is left stranded abroad. We did not only evacuate them but also sensitised them to the dangers of irregular migration so that on return, they are to warn others against taking such dangerous routes,” Musa said.

Commenting on this trend, a former Nigerian Ambassador to Mexico, Ogbole Amedu-Ode, told Saturday PUNCH that insecurity and economic challenges had caused the spike in irregular migration.

He noted, “Migration Is as old as human history. In contemporary times and against the backdrop of a globalised world, the phenomenon has taken on a new meaning given the dynamics of air travel etc.

“Even at that, migration can be divided into two types – legal and illegal. In the recent past, our compatriots have been voting with their feet – both by regular and irregular means. The migration of our people is a consequence of the national economy which is in a perpetual tailspin and spiking insecurity across our national space.

“The government can stymie this trend through exertions in the area of securing our people and their properties against all forms of insecurity – banditry, kidnapping, armed robbery,” he noted.

Amedu-Ode further stated that the earlier there is a turnaround in the economic fortunes of Nigeria, the better for all. “Fix decaying infrastructure and underperforming utilities; an optimally performing economy will go a long way in reducing the ‘Japa’ phenomenon,” he added.

Countries’ tougher immigration laws

It was gathered that several countries have embraced more strident measures that would clamp down on irregular migration and ensure that undocumented migrants are expelled.

In a trend of deportations spanning several European countries, no fewer than 170 Nigerians have been deported from Germany, Sweden and Lithuania, nine months into 2023.

This was based on a compilation of reports and data sourced from the websites of migration agencies of the respective countries.

As part of a growing trend of minors being deported from Germany in recent months, four siblings aged between 11 and 17 and their mother were deported alongside 35 others to Nigeria in May.

Between late May and July 4, Germany deported 80 Nigerian migrants, including children battling severe health challenges requiring surgeries.

In the following months, 50 others, comprising 48 males and two females, were deported from Switzerland, Sweden, Luxembourg, Austria, Belgium, Spain and Hungary.

According to a Reuters report, the number of immigrants deported from European Union countries rose by 29 per cent in the second quarter of 2023, mostly sent back from France and Germany.

Quoting Eurostat, the report further disclosed that of 105,865 non-EU citizens who were ordered to leave an EU country, 26,600 were deported to another country, an increase of 29 per cent from the second quarter of last year.

About 1.1 million people arrived in the UK in the year till June, with around 560,000 emigrating in the same period, leaving a net migration at a record 504,000 people, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Earlier in February, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia also arrested and detained about 800 Nigerians for various offences bordering on irregular migration.

According to a statement by the Head, Public Relations Unit, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Gabriel Odu, the Saudi authorities started to clamp down on undocumented foreigners in October 2022 when they indicated that 45,458 illegal migrants were in the country.

In November 2022, Spanish authorities also ordered the deportation of three Nigerians rescued in Spain’s Canary Islands after an 11-day journey from Nigeria, crouched on the rudder of a fuel tanker.

Highlighting the perceived reasons behind the unbridled migration of Nigerians abroad, a former state Ambassador and National Secretary of the International Human Rights Defenders Forum, Ayo Akintayo, in an interview with our correspondent, said, “There is a colonial mentality-cum-inferiority complex in our people who tend to naturally see Oyinbos (white people) as superior species and then, many see it as an escape from poverty and under-development.

“Other reasons are the high rates of unemployment, poor wages and conditions of services, high level of insecurity, the need to secure future generations from uncertainty and poverty, poor infrastructural facilities like electricity, good roads, hospitals, schools, poor governance at all levels and inhuman treatment of citizens.

“The government should ensure that good governance is provided at all levels. Creation of jobs and better conditions of services with greater opportunities for wealth creation will curb irregular migration. With improved infrastructure, industrialisation, and an improved economy, this will change.”

Stakeholders urge better approach

The Executive Director of Lightup Foundation, Ambassador Olasubomi Aina, at a virtual event monitored by our correspondent last week Tuesday, explained that the tougher punishment for migrants embraced by European countries had not yielded the desired results.

She added that in spite of these measures, there were higher migration figures, even as she urged them to adopt a more humanitarian approach.

She said as of September 29, 2023, the United Nations reported that about 186,000 persons arrived in southern Europe by sea between January and September and they landed in Italy, Greece, Spain, Cyprus, and Malta. She noted that over 130,000 migrants more than doubled at the end of June.

She added, “Our youths face daily challenges and dangers while trying to escape the African shores in search of prospects. It’s disheartening that even those who successfully reach foreign countries suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorders. Just last week, I received a distressing call from Germany that one of our African youths who had migrated to the country tragically lost his life by jumping from a four-storey building when confronted by the German police due to lack of visa.

“Two days later, I received another emergency (call) from Northern Cyprus. Another of our youths trafficked into the country faced a harrowing situation. She attempted to take her own life by jumping from a two-storey building but she didn’t die.

“The reports we receive from governments and rescue teams across several European countries are deeply unsettling. We must be united to address these issues, we must develop a holistic means and we have reached out to authorities to consider a humanitarian approach to resolving this menace.”

Aina also added that her foundation had embarked on setting up vocational training for migrants from various African countries and partnering with other non-governmental organisations to provide them with counselling and moral support.

Also speaking on the plight of irregular migrants, the President, United Nations Association in Spain, Eulalia Lagunas, noted that minors were also affected by the clampdown on migrants in the Canary Islands and Andalucía, where many African migrants reside.

She stated, “We need to approach global migration issues that are currently threatening the human rights of African youths and minors. Our association is part of creating an awareness project to help African youths nurture their personal growth within their own countries.

“Nevertheless, the situation will remain as it is as long as youths continue to embark on extremely dangerous paths, exposing themselves to being trafficked, exploited, kidnapped, or just killed just to arrive in Europe.”

Commenting on the issue, the Prime Minister of the State of the African Diaspora, Dr Louis-Georges Tin, stated that it was difficult for him to tell Africans not to come to Europe while he lives in Europe, but that the best message was to provide a sustainable alternative.

He added, “The best message is not to stop people from doing what they dream of or what they are dreaming of doing. It’s to give them a better alternative. We need to provide a better future for Africans in Africa.

“So our plan is that we would like to build farms, agricultural facilities and eco-cities in African countries where migrants pass through so they can live and work there, get some training, and have a decent salary. This will help them decide to remain in Africa and help them to be productive.” (Saturday PUNCH)

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