Ghana - An increasing number of young Ghanaians are risking their lives looking for better opportunities abroad, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Ghana said today marking International Migrants Day.

Although migration can mean an opportunity for a better life for many migrants around the world, IOM warns that for youth opting to take an irregular journey, the experience often results in disappointment, danger and sometimes death. The organization pleads for action to curb this trend, including public awareness campaigns, access to education, and increased employment and livelihood opportunities for young people.

The lack of employment opportunities and family poverty are major drivers of migration among youth in Ghana. They often rely on hearsay, their families sell property and acquire debts to finance the journey and they entrust their lives to unscrupulous human smugglers who promise them easy access into the country of their choice. However, many of them in addition to using increasingly dangerous routes, will experience poor care, abuse, torture, or abandonment at the hands of their smugglers, leading to important trauma and even death.

“We need to make potential migrants - especially the young, poor, and those lacking education or skills - aware of the realities and risks of irregular migration. Providing accurate information in a way that will resonate with the youth and in places where they normally spend time is urgent to dispel many misconceptions that exist”, says Sylvia Lopez-Ekra, IOM Chief of Mission in Ghana.   

A Migration Consultation Center managed by Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) and supported by IOM was created 7 years ago in Sunyani, Brong Ahafo Region where the majority of youth migrants originate, to promote safe migration. Through the recently launched project, Ghana Integrated Migration Management Approach (GIMMA) funded by the European Union, IOM intends to continue to support the Government of Ghana to increase the capacity of its Migration Consultation Centers in Sunyani and Accra and to organize youth focused information campaigns.

These campaigns, however, need to form part of a much larger intervention. “For young people, the pressure to leave is heightened at specific life transition points such as high school graduation, when job searching or financing marriage. It is at these key moments in their lives that they need additional support”, continues Lopez-Ekra.

IOM advocates for targeted efforts to support the poorest and most vulnerable adolescents, in migration prone regions of Ghana, to remain in school; especially after Junior High School (JHS). The direct and indirect costs of schooling represent a major obstacle preventing the poorest children from transitioning to JHS. Many such children drop out of school and migration is often seen as the natural next step to start earning a living. Social protection schemes including cash-transfers, an area where the Government of Ghana has made significant strides, could have an important positive impact in addressing this push factor of youth migration.

Lastly, more employment and livelihood opportunities should be made available to young people in key sending regions such as Brong Ahafo and Northern, as meaningful rural employment is critical to enable young would-be migrants to remain in their communities. “Vocational training, support of entrepreneurship and the provision of micro-grants are all important pieces of addressing irregular youth migration but above all, we must all work together to recreate a sense of trust in young people that a decent living can be earned at home”, adds Lopez-Ekra.

Ghana has a long history of migration. In recent years, neighboring countries have lost their economic draw and an important part of Ghanaian out-migration flows has been directed to North Africa where migrants look for work in countries such as Egypt, Morocco and Libya. However, the various crises in that region have pushed more and more migrants to continue their journey and try to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Europe. Given the illicit nature of irregular migration, accurate data is not available on the number of Ghanaians crossing the desert and the sea each year, but the numbers are far from negligible. For example, in 2011, during the first Libyan crisis, IOM assisted the Government of Ghana to repatriate nearly 19,000 Ghanaians from Libya, many more returned through their own means and evidence shows that these flows continue today.

The dangerous outcome of irregular migration attempts for Ghanaian youth was made all too evident last August, when a boat was rescued off the cost of Tunisia. Its engine had died and the boat was drifting towards an uncertain fate leaving its 75 passengers - among whom were 10 Ghanaian minors aged between 15 and 17 - terrified and helpless. IOM Ghana supported the reintegration of three of these minors who expressed a desire to come home. They received psychosocial support and a micro-grant and are eager to build a future for themselves in their communities of origin. However, their stories, ripe with accounts of abuse and exploitation, reinforce IOM’s concerns that Ghanaians at an increasingly young age are risking their lives in search of greener pastures.        

This is not a phenomenon that is specific to Ghana. For the past two years IOM has raised alarm about the growing number of migrants dying en route. 2014 has been the deadliest year on record. According to Fatal Journeys, an IOM report released earlier this year the number of migrant deaths worldwide in 2014 will surpass 5,000, more than twice the 2,378 deaths reported last year.

“Unnecessary migrant sufferings can be prevented if the right response is given to this worrying trend. We will never know the true extent of the problem because the remains of those who lost their lives often disappear in the desert or in the sea and those who survive often lack the voice to be heard. However, the little that we know should be enough to set us in motion. Now is the time for action”, concludes Lopez-Ekra.

For more information, please contact IOM Ghana

Phone: +233 302 742 930
Email: iomaccra@iom.int