Today the world is faced with problem of the migrants who left their countries of origin seeking new way of life where their dream could be realized and sufferings becomes a thing of the past. Due to political instability, economic backwardness and social decadence, these people have been subjected to the inequality, lack of access to basic need and suffered the consequence of the rivalry among their political leaders. They believed the solution to their problems is moving to well developed or a better of countries. Given no consideration to the migration policy of their mother countries and the country of desire, migrants mainly from the Middle East, Asian and Africa embarked on disastrous journey.
Policies and protocol had been formulated, laws been passed and agreement has been reached on the movement of people from one country to the other either in the international or Nation laws. Certain steps and documents are designed for any lawful migration are in existence but the desperate nature of these people, the tedious process required before the attainment of such document, lack of financial capability to get them, easy access to means of communication and short route, ignorance of the law, war and persecution, etc. accounted for while many people ignored the collection of relevant documents in getting to dream land.
The attendance consequence is that they became illegal migrant in the host communities. The migrants without valid documents of identification or whose document has expired encountered unprecedented challenges in the process of crossing boarder or going through illegal route to their desired countries. They faced terrible experience while many fell sick, other died in the process, they faced health problem, and pregnant women experienced miscarriage, attacked from the dangerous animals, bad whether condition, sometimes the ship capsized leading to mass death.
This horrible experience had been claimed to be disastrous, the case of Arab migrants from Syria, Egypt, Libya, and Afghanistan still fresh in the memory. They were humiliated, detained and repatriated to the mother’s country. The United Nation and other agencies whose migration is their priority are facing unprecedented problem on migration issue all over the world. This has not reduced the extent at which the people migrate because many of the migrants did not see anything illegal in their action.
Millions of illegal migrants have successfully cross through, Italy, Spain, Greece, Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey in recent years. Majority of whom have not achieved the purpose upon which they embarked on the journey. They slept under tent, and other shelters provided by the international organization and the condition of the camp have been devastating. Those who had managed to get to the main city or had found shelter had been subjected to range of maltreatment, discrimination, poor condition of labor and living standard, hostile human relations in the host community.
Those whose paper has expired were sent back to their respective countries. The illegal migrants were often denial lack of access to basic necessity of life such as healthcare, and water. They were threatened, humiliated and subjected to expulsion. The women are subject of range of sexual harassment, beaten, and dubbed of their belongings. There is always obvious discrimination on the basis of the gender discrimination. The illegal female migrants do face hell than the male counterpart. Man cold run hide and run for the enforcement agencies. They could do all kinds factory industrial or dirty jobs. The work a lady can do is limited, hence majority of them engage in prostitution in the host countries.
However, the illegal migrants are no longer accepted in their host countries. They saw them not only as threat to the infrastructures. The rising population of migrants led to congestion of metropolis making the existing infrastructure unsuitable for the demographic increase.
The issue of the integration of migrants today is no longer realistic. Despite the fact that Germany was known as the ‘’land of hope’’, it took her months before the migrants were given second thought even though her counterpart in the European union had closed their boarder denying them entry into their respective countries.
There is also economic and social marginalization. They are not given equal economic opportunity. They did dangerous and dirty jobs. It is against this background majority of them were associated with various form of gangs. It was believed this could give them protection and hope. Since most of these gangs group are drug dealers, they became involved in underground economy. Though, some resort to begging for alms for sustenance. It was on these basis 68 Nigerian women mainly Hausa origin deported from the Sudan in the previous decades
The illegal migrants had no protection under any law, apart from international human right. They were subjected to series of arrest without warrant, their base raided, arrested, sometimes deported in the process. They went into hide out and come out when where there were no security personnel. In some developed countries like U.S, Britain and France, they hardly go out in the day. This was because they known their paper would be requested by the appropriate authority who are so vigilant and security conscious especially with the rising influence of the terrorist organization like ISIL.
Similarly, most of them wear same cloth, shoe, under wear etc for weeks or months. They hardly comb their hair. Since majority of them were jobless there were no resources to procure their daily necessity. Similarly, the children were denial living standard. Migration of the children has become a source of worry in the recent year. The children who were the hope of tomorrow have been denial basic need. Majority of them died of treatable illness.
Illegal migrants are on their own especially when they in the country that gave less regard to the migration policy like Nigeria, where they work street with impunity. In West Africa the ECOWAS protocol on free movement allowed the citizen of the member countries to enter host country for a period not more than 90 days. How many of this people complied with this direction after the expiration of their permit? They moved around like indigene. They even compete the citizen on the available job.
Consequently, Nigerians has a lot to learn from this experience. Apart from the fact that relevant authority dealing with the issue of migration must ensure proper implementation of the migration policy, there should be advocacy at national, state and local government level to sensitize people on the principles guiding the movement and conduct of the migrant in the country and on the danger behind illegal migration.
It is of no value to formulate policy that millions of Nigerians are not aware. If the policy is kept within the office of the formulators and individuals arrested for not following the policy, the question is who is to be blame? The masses should be encourage to procured necessary document when going outside the country either for employment, tourism, education, marriage or reunification with the family members. I hope this is the only way to prevent horrible experience of migration problem in the host country. Those whose documents have expired should either renew it before expiration date or left for good. If all these are applied accordingly the problem of illegal migrant would the thing of the past and the image of the country will be protected.
Written by Kareem Abdul Rasaq, Programme Officer, Grassroots Development & Advocacy Centre, NUT Plaza, Asa Dam Road, Ilorin, Kwara State.
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