Perilous Passageways: African Migration to Europe
More than one million people have attempted to immigrate from Sub-Saharan Africa to Europe in the last 15 years. In the last 10 years, over 29,000 of these immigrants have died on boats in the Mediterranean with countless others dying at other points along the journey. In 2023 alone, 3,105 immigrants died or vanished, often in fishing vessels unequipped to hold many passengers and incapable of making the entire journey. Human smuggling organizations operate throughout the African continent, demanding payments for safe passage and willingly injuring immigrants in the process. Upon arrival, most are arrested and deported and many of those who aren’t, never fully integrate with the European community.
These facts beg the question; if the path is so dangerous, why do they continue to go?
The Stakes
The motivations for African immigrants are numerous and dynamic. Over 74%, claim to be fleeing economic instability and poverty. Many countries in the region exhibit deeply unequal societies with most of the country’s wealth concentrated at the narrow top of a social hierarchy. In Nigeria, the continent’s most populous country, revenue from oil drilling has resulted in excessive wealth in the hands of corporations and corrupt politicians. Young, hopeful Nigerians face high unemployment levels, barriers to education, skyrocketing inflation, and poorly developed infrastructure. They are ultimately driven to Europe by this lack of opportunity to make a better life for themselves.
Major regional conflicts and threats from non-state actors endanger civilians and encourage immigration to the European Union. In Sudan, over 7.4 million people have been dislocated after the reignition of a longstanding conflict between the Sudanese military and regional militias. Indiscriminate bombings have left those who live in both North and South Sudan with nowhere else to turn to. Similarly, in the Sahel region cutting through the middle of the continent, citizens are caught in attacks carried out by jihadist militant groups targeting national governments and international coalitions. Persistent conflict in the region for the last few decades has motivated immigrants to seek a better life in Europe.
The life-changing decision to immigrate presents a grueling challenge for immigrants making their way north. Those migrating from the south of the continent must confront the scorching temperatures and fierce sandstorms of the Saharan desert. At most border checkpoints, human smuggling networks demand exorbitant bribes for safe passage and frequently imprison or hurt civilians. Immigrants who leave home are often leaving behind their families, never to be seen again.
Additionally, many African countries do not let emigrants leave their country through official means, leading to them seeking out illegal routes. In Morocco, for example, the national government under King Mohammed VI fears that emigrants to Europe will leave and never come back. As such, his government restricts granting passports and approval to wealthy entrepreneurs, royalty, and others with vested business interests in the country. The coveted, taboo nature of immigration as a means of escape in these countries likely encourages citizens to do so illegally when they have exhausted other options.
European Attitudes and Immigration Policy
Far-right European politicians have taken advantage of the influx of immigrants to further a nationalist agenda using anti-immigrant rhetoric, leading to increasingly strict immigration policies. Those who arrive in Mediterranean ports are affected by this shift in attitude. An alarming number of migrant boats sink when confronted with delayed responses from European Coast Guards as fewer resources are being allocated to rescue missions and more for law enforcement efforts. On June 14th, 2023, the Adriana fishing boat carrying 750 immigrants sank off the coast of Greece killing 646 and devastating families from Pakistan, Syria, and Egypt. Critics argue the Greek Hellenic Coast Guard sent tactical resources rather than a rescue mission, dooming the migrants to this tragic fate. Numerous similar incidents continue under the right-leaning prime ministers of Greece and Italy, Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Giorgia Meloni.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis gives a speech at the European Parliament
Photo Credit: Flickr via European Parliament
The negative attitude towards immigrants reveals a startling reality of contemporary European politics. Populist parties continue to win seats in Parliament, basing their campaigns on anti-immigrant rhetoric. Last Summer in Spain, the far-right party Vox won 33 parliamentary seats. Its leader, Santiago Abascal, believes the country should build impenetrable walls in its southern cities to keep migrants out, and that the government should never grant citizenship to immigrants coming from Islamic countries, as they dilute true Spanish heritage.
European Foreign Policy Dynamics
The European Union has initiated several development projects in Africa to counteract the forces that drive immigrants north. The Emergency Trust Fund for Africa, initiated in 2015, facilitated a multilateral response to the region’s development issues and instability. Each EU member donates money to the organization, and each European state, nonprofit organizations, and African governments undertake initiatives to enhance access to basic services, improve institutions, and combat human smuggling networks that take advantage of immigrants. One project in Kenya named the Kalobeyei Development Programme, for example, aims to improve health standards and food security, increase the enrollment of children in school, and improve the population’s overall well-being. Other projects seek to implement regional immigration systems to control the flow of migrants, as is being done in Morocco.
Yet, the international community is criticizing the efficacy of these development groups for not producing their intended results and resembling the same cruel immigration systems they were initially attempting to change by diverting some humanitarian aid. A lack of sovereign oversight and tight restrictions on countries’ immigration systems have caused further suffering for migrants trapped in immigration bureaucracies. For them, their exploitation is all the same whether it's perpetrated by Europeans or human smugglers.
EU countries have also worked closely with African partners to initiate new mass deportation programs. The British parliament recently passed a new law permitting the arrest and deportation of asylum-seekers to Rwanda, where the Rwandan government claims it will provide basic needs and services. Critics have argued that the law is inhumane, as it sends immigrants who have no affiliation with Rwanda to a distant country. The law encountered numerous legal hurdles before it was passed and is expected to experience future challenges to its legitimacy.
The Future for Immigrants
Some posit that issues affecting immigrants are overlooked in favor of issues affecting the wealthy. The Adriana boat tragedy of 2023 was treated as inconsequentialas world media simultaneously remained consumed with a group of wealthy entrepreneurs who sank on the recreational submarine Titan. Similarly, the names and faces of those lost daily in the region are forgotten through time. Immigration remains a significant topic of concern for the international community, and it is unclear whether the suffering of immigrants will be addressed effectively anytime soon.
Photo Credit: Flickr via VFutscher