Help Wanted: African Refugee Migration to Europe

You work for the Italian Coast Guard. Suddenly, your radar emits a high-pitched beeping

sound. You are now in charge of a rescue mission in Mediterranean Sea. Twelve miles off the

coast of Libya, thousands of sub-Saharan Africans beg for help. Some jump into the water to

reach you sooner. Survivors struggle to move a few inches let alone get off the boat. Hours pass,

and you finally load everyone into life rafts. Piled on top of one another, dozens have already

died on the boat since the night before. You put dead into body bags and store them on rafts.

Exhausted, you climb below the deck, realizing you only rescued one third of the migrants. This

rescue operation becomes your routine. Today, you saved 550 Africans. But since last week, you

saved over 11,000 (2016: Gladstone; 2016: Mediterranean Rescuers). Over the past two days,

you bagged up 38 bodies, though that number is modest compared to the 4,200 lifeless bodies

with which you have dealt since the beginning of the year (2016: Mediterranean Rescuers).

How could this happen? Is global security at risk?

The root of this migration lies in a lack of opportunity throughout sub-Saharan Africa.

Paradoxically so, there seems only one opportunity to leaveand this new migration

opportunity is inseparable from the flows increased by the Syrian refugee crisis. Since 2015,

African migration to Europe has increased by 56% (2016: Searcey). Due to crumbling economies

throughout sub-Saharan Africa, 26% of the worlds refugees are African (Central African

Republic). Jobs are scarce, and finding a job without previous education is even scarcer. With

poor access to land and markets and an overpopulated youth, many Africans see Europe as their

only option for work (2002: Hucklesby and Travis 99). Before Africans can even get to Europe,

they trek hundreds of miles, often guarded by thieves and offshoots of the Islamic State and Al

Qaeda. 70-80% of African refugees go to Libya to find work or to find a smuggler to bring them
to Europe in a small boat (2008: de Haas 3-5). Each year, thousands injure themselves or die. In

2016, over 171,000 people attempted the journey across the Mediterranean Sea (2016: Mowat;

2008: de Haas 8).

The refugee plight is one of the most complex challenges in global security today.

Citizens of weak, unstable states in Africa are now more willing to take advantage of refugee

flows because of the carrier effect generated by the Syrian refugee crisis. Undoubtedly, Syria

deserves attention, but we cannot ignore Africa, especially as refugee numbers surpass one

million. The UNHCR calls it one of the most poorly-funded refugee crisis emergencies

(Central African Republic). Yet, outside of medical and food supplies, the UNHCR has done

little; their website devoted a mere 10 articles to the subject from 2013-2015 and included none

in 2016. Even though the migration began in the 1970s, UNHCR did nothing until 2007 (2008:

de Haas 3, 9). Should we assume that Africa is accustomed to insufficient aid, considering that in

2002, 75% percent of African refugees did not receive any at all? (2002: Hucklesby and Travis

99) We can no longer sit back while Africa continues to be snubbed.

Although the European Commission has taken action, their work is not exhaustive. Last

year, the EC attempted to tackle migration from Africa at the source by promoting security and

development through a 1.8 billion trust fund that accumulated large resources to enable a

flexible response to the migration patterns throughout sub-Saharan Africa (2016: Europe and

Migration; 2015: European Commission). It sought to better manage migration through

economic opportunity, conflict prevention, and international protection and asylum, but this fund

was merely symbolic. We only witnessed greater African migration and thus more body bags to

Europe in 2016. On December 16th, the EC devised a similar response, approving a 37 million

trust fund that again hopes to tackle migration challenges in Tunisia, Morocco, and Libya
(2016: European Commission). Europes migratory plan should better protect and aid migrants

and their host communities, while also working towards developing of a national strategy for

migration and increased economic opportunity. We can only hope to see the successful

implementation of this project, but if history is our guide, migration patterns will only increase.

The ECs project may appear attractive, but in reality, these ideas amount to no solution,

especially as they ignore the hub of migration in sub-Saharan Africa as well as the costs to host

countries, such as Italy (2013: Gebrewold 174; 2008: Salehyan 789). Granted, the plan may ease

some economic pain in Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia, but no amount of economic aid will solve

internal issues in weakly-governed countries. How can we facilitate cooperation on local and

national levels in countries like Libya with rebel leadership and smugglers who thrive on these

migration patterns? Unable to properly allocate resources and money, low-income, corrupt

countries suffering from violence and poverty undergo development issues. These fragile albeit

independent states throughout Africa states threaten global security, sustaining conflict, poverty,

and weak governance (1986: Nindi 98; 1999: Ottaway 14). The EC and UNHCR have only

bandaged this issue, and their lack of extensive support is telling (2009: Bekers 338). An

increased need for refugee protection indicates a weak nation-state system; this must be taken

seriously (2009: Hein and Niazi 42).

We cannot yet trust the ECs plan until we witness a reduction in migration and a strong

enforcement of human rights protection in host countries. Victims of socioeconomic-induced

displacement receive little support, as their national governments often manipulate the assistance

received and devote it to non-humanitarian goals. Therefore, through inattention to conflict

dynamics, UNHCR and other groups unintentionally support rebel causes and put global security

at risk (2013: Song 6). A thorough study of the refugee migrationone that deals with its root
causes in socioeconomics and politicsis necessary for an accurate estimate of the extent to

which humanitarian organizations and the EC should be responding. Regardless, a proposal with

the ultimate goal of democracy must be drafted to advance both the wellbeing of Africans and

our global security.

 Works Cited

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