Abstract
The United Nation’s Technical Specialist for Adolescents and Youth at the UN Population Fund, Sylvia Wong reveals that young adults currently represent the largest proportion of transnational migrants (Wong, 2009). Migrant youth, and in this context, female African migrants are being subjected to very difficult transit experiences both at transnational borders (Toasije, 2009; Brachet, 2012) and in the receiving societies (Ki-moon, 2009; Solimano, 2010). Our work disturbs existing notion of free movement of individuals across transnational borders to accentuate the effect of Western media representations on Europe-bound female youth migrants from Sub-Saharan Africa. We foreground the pervasive border-restrictions, oppressive treatments, and involuntary deportations experienced by these female migrants in neo-colonial surveillance systems, and tropes of racist securitization masking the interlocking systems of oppression the female migrants have to deal with. The work uses textual analysis to speak to earlier research-report from regimented qualitative field-study conducted in 2013 in the Republic of Malta. It argues that labeling and criminalization of young African female migrants by the European media results in negative public opinions, and subsequently, severe restrictive and oppressive practices against these migrants both at EU borders and in the host societies.
Highlights
Border surveillance and restriction against unwelcome immigrants are fast becoming predictable contradictions that migrants entering industrialized world from developing economies are coming to terms with, and an odd against which they must resist with utmost agency
As the most populous country in Africa, Nigeria must collaborate with African Union to initiate a leading role in addressing youth-related concerns in its domain
Evidence-base and verifiable data reports on the short and long run implications of African youth emigration might help to jolt lumber-stricken leaders in the continent to the realities not just of the tragedies characterized in the flow of female youth cross-border movement, but the future socio-economic implications with respect to sustainable development in the continent
Summary
Border surveillance and restriction against unwelcome immigrants are fast becoming predictable contradictions that migrants entering industrialized world from developing economies are coming to terms with, and an odd against which they must resist with utmost agency. Public opinions formed based on such negative reportage often generate impulsive political responses in the form of anti-immigrant campaigns and laws; and at other times, academic researches based on insufficiently sourced data. Speculations engendered by media exaggerated reportage of migration of young female Africans into Europe only tend to entrench negative public opinions against the immigrants and encourage less than appropriate researches from academics who share interest on the topic (Berriane & de Haas, 2012). This approach to understanding the phenomenon of African migration creates and perpetuates reports with illusive notions that Europe is inundated by African migrants
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