After the central government overthrown in 1991, Somalia has had a dysfunctional government and many Somalis evacuated the country when the civil war occurred and fled to across Africa, Middle East, Europe and America.
Meanwhile, there are enormous factors which have driven the youth to unauthorized immigrants including:-
Insecurity: the most important driver is the instability which exist even currently some parts of Somalia and demoralized many Somali people particularly the largest portion of the community (Youth) and alternatively they preferred to head to different destinations, because there is no any group who overarched or dominated the country legally or illegally if they are, they misused and exploited the youth, starting from civil war 1991 to Islamic court unions 2006, because they are ubiquitous people. And there is a common word which reflects the youth exploitation which says” MALIIBAANAYAASHA LAGU LIIBAANAY” (Non-beneficiaries who are benefited from them) , which means , the youth are those decide the winner part when it comes to a fighting and conflict and at the same time they are less benefited from the benefits.
Widespread unemployment across the country: Youth are the largest segment of our community, and mostly they are unemployed, and this brought to leave the country in order to get better live. So they endanger their lives and prefer to illegal migration (TAHRIIB).
Meanwhile, while they are unauthorized immigrants and crossing Libya, Yemen and many other borders, they face enormous challenges including killing, rape, torture and other punishments. For instant , crossing Libya border to Europe particularly Italy currently is the worst place , because these days, there is a new phenomenon of (Slavery) as many documentaries indicated, albeit there are many other communities go illegally to Europe through Libya and approach tremendous difficulties like ours, but Somalis are (Treasure) which means they are available source of income as longest the Somali people are dependent on each other and every family when they hear that one of their relatives are in jail in Libya and demanding for ransom in order to release , they collect moneys immediately, so Somalis are more preferable than the others according to human traffickers.
Education Privilege: This means, when it comes to getting or competing a job opportunity , the local people are less getting the opportunity, because if you observe the work environment in Somalia both public and private sectors, the local educated people are not given the priority, because there is a myth perception that job offers believe which is, that the candidates who are having outside certificates are more educated than the those have local certificates, which is absolutely wrong believe. Because the competence and the talent of the person are not tailored by having an abroad certificate, but the personality and the endowment qualities are those guides the quality of the person.
For example, if you re graduated from the Harvard University , but your education performance is poor , it doesn’t mean that you are best candidate as longest you have a recognized certificate, because the University doesn’t upload in your head the education and the best quality, but it’s you who must come up with the performance , so , in my view the local educators are more suitable of getting the high positions , because they are more expert than the outsiders as longest they know the local context, and I am not denying those educated the outside of the country but I am just giving the priority the local people in order to reflect the real situation of the country. So when the local people who endured all the difficulty situations faced while they live in the country and still are not getting their rights and are marginalized group as well, they decided to leave the country, so this is also another drive for illegal migration. I am not going to make the local people pretentious one’s or to exaggerate more than enough, but I am emphasizing to let them take the lead when it comes to serve the national interest.
Getting Foreign Passport: this is also another driving factor, because when a Somali with a foreign passport arrive the country, it’s very easy to join the politics and nominate him/her immediately a high position, while the locals don’t easy to them to join the political arena of the country, so a lot of youth choose to illegal migration for sack of getting a considerable passport so as to qualify nomination of a public office as longest coming from abroad is an additional value according to Somalia. For instant, let have a look, the high political officers of the country have a foreign passports even most of the two chambers of the Somali federal parliament have a foreign passport, dude!
Family Problem: this factor is also a psychological driver, when the person feel uncomfortable situation for sack of maybe financial problem or domestic violence or disagreement among the parents, some people choose to leave the country by seeking for to be free from that situation or to try to collect money and send it back to his family.
Group Affiliation: this is also critical point, because when someone join or be part of any group , when his group loses the competition , he/she takes a quick decision to leave the country in order to look for safety and protection. For example, when a person was maybe a district commissionaire, and as usually takes him/her the position within a year or six months, he/she has no a protection anymore because of financial capabilities and at the same time can’t live with among his/her colleagues for sack of previous status, so they prefer to leave the country.
Ignorance and Emotional Situations: this is another factor, which some people when they hear that his/her friends went to Europe or America, they automatically decide to follow the same procedure of (TAHRIIB), it can be either that person has no education background, so he/she decides to go abroad nothing else without predicting what challenges will occur during that caravan, or they go immediately without prior planning, they think that they are going to picnic, and the situation will be upending! So they lack of evaluating what that person faced while he/she was going to illegal migration? And isn’t necessarily known that they will reach their destination safely but they are guessing solely.
Solutions and Recommendations
Enhancing the security: in order to remain the youth in their home, the government and its people has to collaborate collectively the stability of the country because it’s business for every one of us
Widespread job creation: the government has to fulfill this principle (Go big or go home) which means; the government must initiate and come up with developmental programs in order to alleviate the unemployment rate, or has to keep silent not to declare everywhere that they will establish large programs so as to employ the youth. Albeit the government is doing currently ok, but they have to redouble their endeavor towards addressing this issue, because the public sector isn’t enough to employ all the youth, but there is also a need for other private sectors, so the government has to encourage the private sectors to partake employing the youth for sack of reducing the unemployment rate.
Anti-illegal migration awareness campaign: also there is a need to raise this campaign in order to demobilize the illegal migration and both the government and the businessmen have advocate together in order to accomplish this threat phenomenon, and at the same time to give a hand those come back the illegal-migration such as Saudi (TARXIIL) and re-integrate them again the community, and to request them to speak publicly in order to discourage the youth who are still planning to leave the country in a illegal-migration.
Equal opportunity: this means when the government or the private sectors are recruiting a new staff, they have to consider equal opportunity principle, which means each and every one has to consider his/her quality and performance regardless whether they have outside or local certificates, or foreign passport, so as to get the local people a moral support and make them feel all inclusiveness and give them equal rights as Diaspora do.
Anwar Abdifatah Bashir (Freelace Journalist and Researcher)
Email: anwarcade100@gmail.com
Office Network Allbanaadir.com
Nairobi-Kenya
Allbanaadir@live.com
