Assessing the role of information as a correlate of migration behaviour amongst Nigerian returnee and potential migrants en route Europe

1. Presentation by
D. Tola Winjobi (PhD)
ASSESSING INFORMATION ON
MIGRATION BEHAVIOUR

2. ASSESSING INFORMATION ON MIGRATION
BEHAVIOUR
• Assessing the role of information as a
correlate of migration behaviour
amongst Nigerian returnee and
potential migrants en route Europe
• being a
Paper presentation at INSTACON 29th -31st
October, 2019

3. PRESENTATION OUTLINE
1. Introduction to the project: Irregular
migration amongst youth funded by EU
2. Study focus: irregular migration not
necessarily human trafficking: returnee vs
potential migrants
3. Project objectives
4. Conceptual Framework of the study
5. Migration courses and causes

4. PRESENTATION OUTLINE (contd
6. Migration determinants: Pull & Push factors
7.Methodology
8. Presentation of results
9. Suggestions/Recommendations
10. Any question?

5. EU PROJECT ON IRREGULAR MIGRATION
• Introduction to the project: Irregular
migration amongst youth funded by EU
• The focus was on Nigerian migrants (youth)
and the challenges facing them enroute
Europe via deserts and country of transition
• Multiple actions: poster, sms, motorcade,
docudrama, street theatre etc
• Presentation of outcome in UN House Abuja

6. STUDY FOCUS
• The focus of this study: irregular migration not
necessarily human trafficking: returnee vs
potential migrants.
‘irregular migrants” = "undocumented immigrants"
= "unauthorized immigrants" = "illegalized
immigrant" = foreign nationals who reside in a
country illegally.[6] Focus is on the actions of the
state, which actively denies people legal status.[7]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illegal_immigration

7. IRREGULAR MIGRATION
Illegal immigration is the migration of people
across national borders in a way that violates
the immigration laws of the destination
country.There have been campaigns to
discourage the use of the term 'illegal
immigrant' in many countries since 2007,
generally based on the argument that the act of
immigration may be illegal in some cases, but
the people themselves are not illegal.

8. Project objectives
• The general objective of the study
was to determine the role that
information plays in migration
behavior as it affects both the
returnees and potential migrants in
Nigeria en route Europe so as to
shape migration policies.

9. Specific objectives
• To appraise the level of understanding of
migrants on the dangers associated with
irregular migration en route the desert and the
Mediterranean Sea;
• To gauge the opinions of the returnees on rights
violation and whether they would still migrate
based on the information they now have and;
• To assess best migration policy practice in
relation to some selected European countries
and Nigeria so as to determine information
provision on migration.

10. Conceptual Framework

11. Determinants of Migration
Push factors Pull factors Extraneous factors
poverty progressive academics corruption/sleaze at all levels
natural disasters: fire, erosion, flood, tremor, quakes,
slide, desertification
clement weather/favourable
climate
environmental pollution
unemployment job opportunity lack of industrial harmony and or incessant
strike actions
violence against women and children: circumcision,
rape, incest etc
better healthcare facilities bad economy
lack of functioning social amenities abundance of social amenities economic recession
poor workers’ salaries decent job security weak nation’s currency
increased crime rate peace and tranquility broken down infrastructure
bad-governance good governance dysfunctional political system
absence of social safety net safety net fractured social relationship
political instability and social unrest demand for prostitution availability of other aspects of the sex industry
sectarian and religious conflicts demand for cheap labor thriving human trafficking business
persecution and threats of death/ethnic cleansing or
bloodshed
affordable shelter ethnic suspicion and rivalry
lack of religious freedom freedom of religion/worship Fulanization and ruganization agenda
insecurity: armed robbery, banditry, kidnapping anti-youth policies
marital problem marriage policy
demolition/homelessness perverse corporations needing cheap labour
lack of opportunity for a better life misinformation
Xenophobic attack polygamy
Discrimination porous borders

12. CAUSES OF IRREGULAR MIGRATION in NIgeria
• Nigerian socio-economic condition
ossifies youth employment (poverty, hunger,)
• Ethno-religious violence (Jos, Bauchi, Benue
Maiduguri, Damaturu, Yola – Herdsmen and Boko Haram
mayhem)
• Gender-based discrimination (sex
preference, less education for girls)
• Porous borders/corrupt border officials

13. CAUSES (contd)
• Grounded infrastructure: bad road networks,
epileptic power supply, educational
institutions in shambles, health facilities in
decay etc
• Misplaced priority/continuity of
governments: different policies; MPs
allowance vs minimum wage (N18,000);
additional federal universities vs starving of
existing
• Lack of political will and commitment to
enforce existing legislation

14. AFRICAN ROUTES TO EURopE
•

15. ROUTES TO EUROPE

16. Methodology
• The subjects were drawn from 120
potential and returnee migrants who were
involved in the major project titled:
Irregular Migration – Filling the information
gap.
• Sixty of the subjects volunteered to
participate in both focus group discussions
and interview schedule that followed.

17. Methodology (Contd.)
Questions were generated from the following
issues, among others:
*participants’ intention to migrate and why,
* reasons for voluntary or forced return,
* means and routes of migration,
*level of participants’ desperation to migrate,
*risks associated with travelling without valid
documents,
*and their knowledge about migration.

18. Methodology (Conld.)
Sixty copies of the questionnaire were
administered on the respondents and 54
of them returned their copies while six
of them were void therefore not useful
in data analysis. 28 (51%) of the 54
respondents that returned their
questionnaire were potential migrants
while 26 (49%) were returnees as
presented in figure 2 below.

19. MIGRATION STATUS OF RESPONDENTS
Figure 4: Respondents as returnees or potential migrants
28
26
Returnee Mgrnts
49%
Potential Migrnts
51%

20. Table 2: Respondents by qualification
and occupation N=54
Qualification Occupation
Sch.
Cert
Under
graduate
ND HND BA PG Artis
an
Civil
Servants
CSOs Unem
ployed
Self-
employed
No 10 9 7 9 14 5 4 10 5 25 10
% 18.5 16.6 13 16.6 26 9.25 7.40 9.25 9.25 46.2 18.51

21. Table 3: Intending migrants, means, knowledge
and information # = 54
No Question Affirmativ
e Response
Negative
Respons
e
#
Yes
% #
No
%
1 Do you intend to travel out of
Nigeria in the future?
51 94.4 3 5.6
2 Are you ready to spend any
amount of money to assist you
to travel out of Nigeria?
29 54 20 37
3 If you travelled through
invalid documentation and you
were caught, would you try
your luck again?
9 16.7 45 83.
3
4 Can you confidently say that
you have enough information
about the country you are
going?
26 48 28 52

22. Table 5: By what routes did you travel out
Nigeria, if you have travelled before?
RESPONSE Overland Sea Air sea and
air
Never
PERCENTAGE 37 % (20) 1.85% (1) 9.25% (5) 11% (6) 51%
(28)

23. Table 7: Respondents’ decision to migrate by
road and sea based on information acquired
Q: Would you still like to migrate based on the information
you now acquired?
Migrant Potential #=28 Returnee #=26 54
Potential+Returnee
Response Yes No Yes No Yes No
N 8 20 8 18 16 38
% 28.57 71.4 30.76 69.23 29.62 70.37

24. Table 8: Correlation analysis of information, decision to
travel among returnees and potential migrants
N=54
Variable CorrelationCoefficient p-value
Returnees’ decision to migrate again and
informationreceived
0.97 0.008
Potential migrants’ decision to migrate and
informationreceived
0.56 0.001

25. discussions
According to the result presented in table 8
above, the correlation coefficient between the
returnees’ decision to migrate and information
received is 0.97. This is a very high correlation.
Also the sign of correlation is positive (+).

26. Discussions (contd.)
The coefficient is also found to be statistically
significant at the 1% level. On the other hand,
the potential migrants’ decision to migrate and
information received are positively signed also,
though expectedly. The correlation coefficient is
as high as 0.56.

27. Discussions (conld.)
The coefficient is also found to be statistically
significant (p-value 0.001).
In this study, significant relationships were
found between information received and
decision to migrate by potential (r=.56, p-value
0.001) and returnee migrants(r=0.97, p-value
0.008).

28. Table 9: Problems peculiar to irregular migrants generally and
specific problems peculiar to returnee migrants
General problems: irregular migrants Specific problems: returnees
Arrest and detention Anti-social behaviour: addiction, pilfering
Asphyxia in the desert Betrayal and disappointment
Attacks by wild animals Child abuse
Death in the desert or execution Divorce/permanent separation
Deportation Destitution/homelessness
Extortion by local security operatives Hunger, starvation, sickness etc
Inclement weather condition Irregular remittance/Non remittance
Indecent meal: eating junks and drinking urine Loss of dignity and self-esteem
Lack of food and water Loss of personal effects
Road/sea catastrophes Parental neglect
Sexploitation (sexual exploitation) Prostitution
Swindling by natives Shame
Unfounded fear and trepidation Stigma
Xenophobic attacks Suicidal acts

29. RECOMMENDATIONS
Nigerian governments should enact youth-friendly
policies, and create employment opportunity for
our teeming youths to enable them exhibit their
respective potentials instead of becoming brain
drain to their own country.
Government should also provide an enabling
environment for the private sector in particular
youth-oriented entrepreneurs by enacting
development-oriented policies that support
productive activities that would grow Nigeria’s
economy.

30. RECOMMENDATIONS (contd.)
Authorities should monitor the activities of
dubious immigration service providers and
bring the culprits to book. CSOs and agencies
that are working in the area of migration
should brace up to provide undiluted
information in the area of migration process
to potential migrants so as to allow for
informed decision to travel and curtail the
menace of irregular migration.

31. RECOMMENDATIONS (contd.)
According to Goals 1, 6 and 7 of the SDGs, that
government should direct its policies towards
poverty eradication for all and towards service
delivery especially in providing functioning social
amenities such as safe and affordable water and
affordable, reliable, and modern power supply in
order to encourage conducive home environment
and to reduce the menace of irregular migration.

32. RECOMMENDATIONS (contd.)
Realising 2030 Agenda and achieving the SDGs
would be a mirage if governments neglect these five
Ps which are the bases of development. In similar
vein, the implementation of all the 17 goals is
dependent on factoring in the three dimensions of
sustainable development – social, economic and
environmental elements. SDGs would not be
realized by 2030 if these three dimensions are
relegated in our plans, policies, and programmes.

33. RECOMMENDATIONS (conld.)
While American migration policies are no longer
enviable (no thanks to Trump’s recent anti-migrant
policy), the European countries should enact
immigration policies that wear human rights face.
Britain and Germany, for example, could learn the
best migration policy from France and Italy whose
policies are less hash and more favourable to the
migrants than that of other European countries.

34. CONCLUSIONS
The current Nigerian socio-economic condition has
made migrants particularly vulnerable while
seemingly better opportunities in the global north
have shaped the migration behaviour across the
globe. Some governments of the destination
countries have stepped up the enforcement of
migration laws in ways that can infringe on migrants’
rights. Examples are Libya and Italy who have made a
bilateral treaty affecting the rights of migrants.

35. CONCLUSION
Bye and large, information plays a vital role in
migration behavior and in final decision to migrate
or not. The right information at the disposal of
potential migrants would go a long way in making
an informed decision which would invariably
enhance individuals’ socio-economic capacity and
make them self-actualize for the benefit of the
society.

36. THANK YOU!
D. Tola Winjobi (Ph.D)
CAFSO-WRAG for Development
tola.winjobi@cscsdev.org
tolawinjobi58@yahoo.com
+234 8082008222
+234 8030618326
www.cafsowrag4development.org