Volume 1 Issue 5 in a Series of Articles
By Femi Senu | @Femi_Senu | Monday 19 February 2024 | 20:47 GMT
Photo credit: Xinhua / Alamy Ras Ajdir, Libya, 26 July, 2023. “African refugees and migrants remain stranded at the Libya-Tunisia border after being expelled by the Tunisian authorities following a harsh government crackdown on sub-Saharan migrants. Because of the well-documented human rights abuses committed in Libya in recent years, in 2023 Tunisia and Egypt became the preferred points of departure for many refugees and migrants trying to access Europe from Africa (see Mixed Migration Review, 2023 for full story).
Migration movements
Migration has always been a significant part of human history, presenting various challenges. For insights
into the motivations behind the decision to emigrate, particularly from Africa, our “Home Sweet Home” series delves into these factors in greater detail (refer to our article “Understanding the Drive Behind African Emigration”: https://nactpvs.wordpress.com/2024/02/04/home-sweet-home-understanding-the-drive-behind-african-emigration/).
Differences in perception and experience significantly shape how host countries formulate and modify
their migration policies. Similarly, these differences impact how migrants’ thought processes and mental states adapt to new environments.
Migration laws and policies aim to manage these movements but can also affect migrants on a subconscious level, as observed in how they acclimatize to new surroundings.
Policies & Laws
The interplay and disparities among national migration policies and the international agreements
that support them have not only proven inadequate in addressing the modern challenges of migration and border management but have also failed to effectively regulate the movement of people. These policy frameworks influence both domestic laws intended to manage migration and the international accords designed to oversee these movements. The ingrained difficulties within these migratory policies and agreements present significant obstacles for law-makers and contribute to human suffering. This impact is felt by migrants originating from their home nations, the countries they move to, and the nations they pass through.
The challenges, as revealed: Mixed Migration Review, Report 2023
Drawing from the latest insights presented in the Mixed Migration Review/Report of 2023, we have distilled reports of human suffering associated with the process of emigration. These accounts highlight the trials faced during and after migration journeys. These findings prompt significant questions about the effectiveness of migration laws and policies, as well as their impact on migrants and the countries that receive them.
Algeria
“Algeria regularly deports Nigerien citizens under a 2014 bilateral readmissions agreement and takes them to a small Niger border village called Assamaka, many others, mostly people from West and Central Africa (but also from Arab or Asian countries) are deposited via unofficial convoys at the so-called “Point Zero” on the border from where they have to walk 15 kilometres to Assamaka. Most remain in the village there for lack of funds for onward transportation, with little in the way of food, water, shelter or humanitarian assistance. One leading international NGO active in Assamaka, where temperatures can reach 48 degrees celsius, said a health facility it supports there had been “overwhelmed”, with people sleeping in it wherever they could find space, even on the roof and in an area usually reserved for waste”( see MSF, 2023).
Eritrean
“Between August 2022 and March 2023, hundreds of Eritrean refugees and asylum seekers were arbitrarily arrested and detained in Sudan as police and other security services stepped up immigration control operations” (see: Human Rights Council, 2023). And, “Refugees and asylum seekers were among hundreds of Eritreans summarily expelled from Ethiopia at the end of June, according to the UN, whose human rights experts noted that such collective expulsions violated international law and, in the absence of “individual risk assessments of their exposure to human rights violations, including torture and enforced disappearance”-abuses” (Mixed Migration Review, 2023:26).
Gaza
According to the Mixed Migration Review, “right now, Gaza is a humanitarian situation in a conflict zone, but uniquely, people are being prevented from escaping into neighbouring countries. They’re being prevented from becoming refugees. You previously worked with UNRWA (add-on United Nations Relief and Works Agency) for many years. What are the issues here?.” At NACT-PVS, we are interested to get
your opinion with this question!
Niger
“In the first eleven weeks of 2023, authorities in Algeria expelled almost 10,000 undocumented migrants— including children and women, some of them pregnant— and abandoned them in or near a desert village in a no-man’s land just across the Niger border” (see Alarm Phone Sahara, 2023).
Tunisia
“In July, reports—later denied by Tunis—began emerging of hundreds of Black Africans being arrested in or near the port city of Sfax in Tunisia and then being forcefully expelled without due process to a militarised desert buffer zone on the Libyan border, where little food or medical assistance was available.35 Those allegedly expelled included people with both regular and irregular status from a range of countries, including Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon, Mali, Guinea, Chad, Sudan and Senegal. Some were asylum seekers registered with UNHCR in Tunisia. They were unable to enter Libya or return to Tunisia, and many of their phones had been smashed by security forces. Dozens of people reportedly died in the no man’s land between the two borders (see: Border. Libya Update, 2023; Al Jazeera, 2023).
United Kingdom
“Based on a three-year investigation, an extensive report into conditions at an immigration detention facility in the United Kingdom found “credible evidence” that human rights law had been breached and that staff at the centre had used racist and derogatory language towards those held there.27 The public
enquiry also found that a “toxic culture” pervaded staff at Brook House, where people are detained prior to deportation. Recorded abuses included the use of dangerous restraint techniques and forcibly moving people when they were naked or near naked. The report called for a range of changes to be introduced into the UK immigration detention system, including a 28-day time limit. There is currently no limit to the duration of such administrative detention” (see: Taylor, 2023).
The Unique Nature of Emigration Decisions
The decision to emigrate is a deeply personal one, influenced by an array of individual circumstances and life experiences. It transcends mere geographic relocation, often embodying a quest for new beginnings or an escape from untenable conditions.
Reluctant Departure from One’s Country
Leaving one’s homeland is rarely a trivial decision and often is not a matter of choice but of necessity. For those who have experienced this, the journey and its outcome can vary greatly. The real question becomes, for those who have undertaken this significant life change to escape and start anew, how has the reality measured up to the expectation?
Photo credit: Miljko / iStock: “The wrecked ship lies in Greek waters while a yacht is moored close by. We chose this photo for our front cover to commemorate the tragedy of 14 June 2023 when the fishing vessel Adriana capsized off the coast of Pylos, Messenia, in Greece with an estimated 750 migrants and asylum seekers on board. Most were from Pakistan, Syria, Palestine, Egypt and Afghanistan. Four days after departing from Tobruk in Libya, on 10 June, the Adriana capsized in Greece’s maritime search and rescue zone. Only 104 men were rescued (see Mixed Migration Review, 2023 for full story).
References
Al Jazeera (2023) At least 27 people found dead in desert after expulsion from Tunisia: Libya. Available: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/8/9/at-least-27-people-found-dead-in-desert-after-expulsion-from-tunisia-libya . (Last Accessed: 18 Feb 2024).
Alarm Phone Sahara (2023) Urgent appeal: Humanitarian crisis in Assamaka on the Niger-Algeria border: Thousands of people deported from
Algeria in vulnerable conditions and left on their own in the middle of the Sahara without shelter and care. Available : https://alarmephonesahara.info/en/blog/posts/urgent-appeal-humanitarian-crisis-in-assamaka-on-the-niger-algeria-border-thousands-of-people-deported-from-algeria-in-vulnerable-conditions-and-left-on-their-own-in-the-middle-of-the-sahara-without-shelter-and-care . (Last Accessed: 18 Feb 2024).
Border. Libya Update (2023). Migrant Crisis at Tunisia-Libya Border Worsens as Death Toll Rises. Available: https://libyaupdate.com/migrant-crisis-at-tunisia-libya-border-worsens-as-death-toll-rises/ . (Last Accessed: 18 Feb 2024).
Human Rights Watch (2023). Tunisia: Crisis as Black Africans Expelled to Libya. Available: https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/07/06/tunisia-crisis-black-africans-expelled-libya-border . (Last Accessed: 18 Feb 2024).
Mixed Migration Review. (2023). Regional issues through regional perspectives. Available : https://www.bosch-stiftung.de/en/publication/mixed-migration-review-2023 (Last Accessed: 18 Feb 2024).
MSF (2023). MSF condemns appalling conditions for migrants abandoned in Assamaka. Available: https://www.msf.org/niger-msf-denounces-appalling-conditions-migrants-abandoned-assamaka . (Last Accessed: 18 Feb 2024).
Taylor, D. (2023) Physical and verbal abuse found in Brook House immigration removal centre inquiry. The Guardian. Available : https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/sep/19/toxic-culture-brook-house-immigration-removal-centre-inquiry .(Last Accessed: 18 Feb 2024).
Have your say!
This is the last article in this series. Volume 1 Issue 5 is the last series in this series of Articles: Home sweet home., the Author has now completed discussing Issue 1-5, to read Volume 1 Issue 1-4, click the links below!
Current Articles, in the series: “Home sweet home”
Volume 1 Issue 4 in a Series of Articles: “Home sweet home”: The countries people most want to go to: https://nactpvs.wordpress.com/2024/02/11/home-sweet-home-the-countries-people-most-want-to-go-to/
Volume 1 Issue 3 in a Series of Articles: “Home sweet home”: Understanding the Drive Behind African Emigration: https://nactpvs.wordpress.com/2024/02/04/home-sweet-home-understanding-the-drive-behind-african-emigration/
Volume 1 Issue 2 in a Series of Articles: A comparative analysis of Nigeria with other nations across Africa, Europe, and beyond: https://wordpress.com/post/nactpvs.wordpress.com/1119
Volume 1 Issue 1 in a Series of Articles: There is nothing like home: https://wordpress.com/post/nactpvs.wordpress.com/1087
“Home sweet home” In A Series of Articles: An Introduction: https://wordpress.com/post/nactpvs.wordpress.com/1048
Emigration News from around the world
Migration News: All around the world: https://www.aljazeera.com/tag/migration/
Death in the Channel – what led a 14-year-old boy to make fatal journey? https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68084466
What is the UK’s plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda? https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/explainers-61782866
Channel Migrants: More than 1,300 people cross in January: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-68130596
International students entering the UK labour market: https://migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/commentaries/international-students-entering-the-uk-labour-market/
‘Japa’ ambitions face hurdle of higher costs: https://businessday.ng/news/article/japa-ambitions-face-hurdle-of-higher-costs/
Home Office set to evict hundreds of asylum seekers from Walthamstow hotel: https://walthamforestecho.co.uk/2024/01/23/home-office-set-to-evict-hundreds-of-asylum-seekers-from-walthamstow-hotel/
Migrant deaths, Sunday 14 January 2024, Do you think something must have gone wrong almost immediately? Click here to read more- https://wordpress.com/post/nactpvs.wordpress.com/1074
Other News: Criminality
10 African cities with the highest crime index at the start of 2024: https://africa.businessinsider.com/local/lifestyle/10-african-cities-with-the-highest-crime-index-at-the-start-of-2024/ywhq0yx
“KNOWLEDGE BREAKS BARRIERS…AFRICA CREATES BRIDGES”
To read our published academic articles, please follow these links:
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This month, on the New ODI Development Policy Review Virtual Issue on Corruption and Accountability in Development is Out- Which anti-corruption efforts are, then, likely to be effective? Trending now on corruption: https://nactpvs.wordpress.com/2024/02/07/which-anti-corruption-efforts-are-then-likely-to-be-effective-trending-now-on-corruption/
A critical assessment of anti‐corruption strategies for economic development in sub‐Saharan Africa: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/dpr.12442 First published: 18 May 2019
African school of thought: The missing ideology in finding a solution to sub‐Saharan African insecurity: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/dpr.12397 First published: 05 July 2018 Email us at: nactpvs@gmail.com
The Nigerian Association of Criminology, Terrorism and Political Violence Studies 