Dangers of Irregular Migration and Perception of Various Means of International Migration

Abstract

The recent upsurge in the number of young Nigerians trying to ‘flee’ the country in search of greener pastures, especially through irregular migration has been a source of grave concern for scholars as well as policymakers and has received a plethora of scholarly interventions. A good number of these interventions focused on Southeast Nigeria because of the propensity of the people of that zone to travelling. Specifically, there are scholars who have looked at the contributions of the galloping inflation, high rate of unemployment, insecurity and the economic hardship in the country. Others include, the high social status accorded individuals who have been outside the country, and other personal and societal benefits that accrue from migration including remittance and knowledge transfer. However, very few studies have investigated why many young Nigerians still embark on irregular migration in spite of the high risks involved. Moreover, limited works exist on the nexus between awareness of these risks and the readiness of migrants to still embark on the journey through the irregular routes. This work explores how the awareness of the dangers of
irregular migration impacts on the willingness to migrate among Anambra state indigenes. Two research questions were formulated, while the survey research method was adopted for the study. A questionnaire was used as the instrument for data collection. Cross-sectional descriptive statistics, which uses frequencies and bar charts were used to answer the research questions. Among other things, the study discovered firstly, that there was low level of awareness among Anambra state residents on the dangers of irregular migration. Secondly, a significant percentage of the respondents condemned migration through sea, desert and land routes, which is encouraging giving the importance of social interaction and the roles of others in influencing human behavior. Nevertheless, it was discovered that the percentage (12.88%) of respondents that reported indifference “maybe” showed that urgent awareness is needed to correct the impression. Based on these findings, the study recommended intensive orientation on the dangers of irregular migration not just in Anambra state but to Nigerian youths in general because with adequate orientation, the ambivalent respondents  may understand the consequences irregular migration and desist from embarking on the perilous journeys.