Imagine waking up one day to realize that your familiar daily routine has completely shifted. You’re now surrounded by people who don’t speak your native language, the price of bread has fluctuated, the sun sets much earlier, and even your beloved coffee tastes different. In this moment, you begin reflecting on the multitude of decisions that led you to this foreign land, which might eventually become your new home in the distant future.

For some fortunate individuals, this journey involves boarding a plane with just two large suitcases. However, for many others, it entails embarking on a perilous sea voyage where the odds of survival are significantly lower than the odds of reaching the intended destination. Both choices come often from difficult decisions, accompanied by countless tears and the realization that life will never be quite the same again. However, they stem from the belief that you hold the reins to your own destiny.

As common knowledge we know that many are the push and pull factors that bring a human being to emigrate. As a push factors, we define “the reasons that individuals might emigrate from their homes, including poverty, lack of social mobility, violence, or persecution. While pull factors describe the reasons that an individual might settle in a particular country. Push factors are commonly supposed to include higher wages, social services such as education or health care, or more nebulous concepts like equality or freedom (Bruzzone).

Given these circumstances, I believe that nearly everyone, when asked, “Do you think these are valid reasons to emigrate?” would likely answer with a resounding “yes.” So, why is it that European Union (EU) emigrants are often seen as courageous individuals, whereas those from non-EU countries are often viewed as potential threats?

Many are the reasons, the thing that mostly affect the public opinion on the topic is the depiction made by the Media and the Populist Politician that uses these thematic to gain votes. Many think that the percentage of emigrants is actually higher than it is in reality and this leads to a common belief that migrants may steal jobs and opportunities. To understand that we use an Ipsos’s report that analyzes the perception of immigrants in different country. To the question What percentage of your country’s population do you think immigrants (i.e., people born in another country) represent? Italian respondent percentage is 21% although the actual data reveals it to be 11%. Similarly, in France, respondents estimated 23% while the reality is 13%. In Poland, the estimated percentage is 15%, whereas the factual figure stands at 2%. On a global scale, the average estimation is 24%, whereas the reality demonstrates it to be 12%. (Ipsos, 2023)

It’s essential to conduct a specific analysis of the emigration flow from the African continent, which has been under the spot for several years. In 2020, only 3.0% of the African population resided outside their home country, a notably lower figure compared to the 8.5% of the European population living abroad. (Friend of Europe)

• In 2020, the total number of African migrants is 40.6 million.
• This is only 14.5% of the global migrant population, much less than Asia’s (41.0%) and Europe’s (22.5%) shares.
• Less than one-third (27.2%) of all African migrants live in Europe.
• African migrants constitute less than 15% of the total migrant population in all world regions other than Africa. (Africa Europe Foundation, Ibrahim Foundation)
  It is worth noting that unlike most European citizens believe, 80% of African migrant population to Europe use regular means. Even though diminishing regular migration channels drive some Africans to undertake dangerous journey across the Mediterranean Sea, most migrations from Africa to Europe remain regular and safe. Froatex, the European border agency recorded 40,000 irregular migrants from Africa in 2019–2020 but this contributed less than 10% of regular migration to Europe during the same period. This contradicts the perception that most Africans reaching Europe use only irregular means. This also implies that there are good reasons which permit African migrants to get visas and other migration documents from European governments (Nyaoro, 2023).
  Similar to the European migrants in the early 19th century who sought improved economic prospects, the majority of Africans moving to Europe are also in search of better economic opportunities. Contrary to widespread belief, they are not seeking welfare but are rather aiming for employment. The demographic profile of these African migrants confirms this truth—they are typically educated, skilled, and predominantly young individuals pursuing jobs rather than seeking handouts. Statistics suggest that around 50% of these migrants from Africa are educated young women (Nyaoro, 2023).
  The perception that all African refugees and asylum seekers are headed to Europe is also not true. Only 27% of the world refugees arrive in Europe and Africans constitute only 7.2% of this figure. Most African migrants actually tend to remain in their regions; this is why Uganda Ethiopia, Kenya, and Sudan hosts almost 3.5 million refugees and asylum seekers from neighboring countries such as Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, Somalia and Burundi (Nyaoro, 2023). In popular discourse, migration of Africans to Europe is presented

as a zero sum game where Africans stand to gain while Europeans have everything to lose. Emotive issues such socio-social welfare benefits, jobs, housing, education opportunities are fronted as those that Africans will gain from. But subjective matters such as race, identity and diversity and cultural preferences are never far away. There are losses and gains on both sides. Given that many African migrants reaching Europe are young, educated and skilled, there is a problem of brain-drain in sending countries even if such people tend to send significant sums of money as remittances back home. Study of data from 50 African countries by Belaid and Slany (Belaid, Slany, 2018) confirms that skilled labour contributes to the development of hosting and receiving countries. (Nyaoro, 2023)

The case of health care in Germany is illustrative of how receiving countries gain. In 2020 (13.7%) of all doctors in Germany were migrants with Africans accounting for (8%). African migrants are therefore not just a burden to social services but active contributors. (Nyaoro, 2023)

Therefore, before considering It as a threat to our national identity and society, we ought to question whether the situation truly qualifies as a problem. Migration is intrinsic to our existence, an integral part of human existence since its creation: cultural diversity should be embraced and nurtured, not dismantled. Additionally, considering that the majority of our beliefs are disproved by the available data, it’s imperative that we engage in greater self- education and reduce our inclination to criticize without proper information.

In conclusion I strongly believe that the opportunity to emigrate, particularly in a secure manner, should be considered a universal right and not limited to a privileged few. No one should be forced to stay in a country only because, under indefinite circumstances, was born there. No one has the right to choose where to be born therefore individuals should have the autonomy, at least, to determine where to live and build their own life.

Bibliography:

Africa Europe Foundation, Ibrahim Foundation, Africa and Europe Facts and Figures on African Migrations https://www.friendsofeurope.org/wp/wp- content/uploads/2022/01/AEF_Summit_African-Migrations.pdf

Belaid F, Slany A. Exploring the Relationship between Migration and Structural Transformation in Africa: An Empirical Analysis, Background Paper No. 2. New York. 2018. Available from: https://unctad.org/system/files/official-document/edar2018_BP2_en.pdf

Bruzzone M. Understanding Migration: Why “Push Factors” and “Pull Factors” Do Not Explain Very Much https://refugees.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/7.27.20-Policy- Brief.pdf

Ipsos survey for the 20th edition of the Entretiens de Royaumont, Ipsos, December 2023 Retrieved from : https://www.ipsos.com/sites/default/files/ct/news/documents/2023-12/ipsos- perils-perception-prejudice-conspiracy-theories-december-2023.pdf

Nyaoro, D. (2023). Comparison of African Migration to Europe and European Migration in the Last Two Centuries. IntechOpen. doi: 10.5772/intechopen.109348