The Ocean Has Swallowed Thousands, While Europe Is No Longer Interested In African Immigrants

Owing to their spirit of adventure and passion for travel, one shouldn't be surprised to encounter a Ghanaian in Greenland, the home of the Eskimos. Almost a third of Africa's population, or 490 million people, live in extreme poverty today. Amid the threat of malnutrition, hunger, riots, deaths, and famine, thousands of Africans flee across the oceans to Europe and other potential entrance countries in quest of greener pastures, making the rich Dark Continent home to beggars.

It is no exaggeration that since the NPP took office in 2016, a great deal of unaccounted-for Ghanaians have been forced to leave their country and travel across the Atlantic in search of better opportunities due to severe economic hardships, widespread corruption that goes unpunished, and a high unemployment rate. Many Ghanaians have sadly passed away, and over 400 migrants drowned in early 2023 while trying to cross the central Mediterranean, according to the UN agency.

Ghana is one of the wealthiest nations in Africa, but sadly, a large number of people there live in poverty as a result of the riches that have been amassed by families and political allies. Most of these Ghanaians are compelled to leave their country without informing their parents because they will be forced to abandon such hazardous travel. On the other hand, a lot of people are unaware that their sons or daughters perished in the Mediterranean Sea while trying to find better opportunities.

In addition to the pervasive corruption that affects the populace, hundreds of farmers in the agricultural industry, lack access to high-quality seed material, expensive credit, investment, and technology, therefore; the harvests are low and the amount of food grown is so minimal that the continent cannot sustain itself, even though export prices are set by buyers. The issues causing a significant number of Ghanaians to flee the nation are far from resolved because corruption is done with impunity.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) continues to record deaths along the world's most dangerous migration route, but it acknowledged that the number was probably underestimated. According to the report, about half of those fatalities were caused by delays in state-led rescue operations and, in one instance, by the complete lack of a rescue mission, with over 20,000 fatalities reported on this route since 2014, IOM Director General António Vitorino declared.

Historically, Europe has been interested in African immigration since their labor force supports their economy; but, after the European Union was formally established on November 1, 1993, things took a turn for the worse. Since then, the influence of Eastern Bloc nations, Poland, Romania, Hungary, and others, moving westward has replaced the labor that African immigrants once performed.

The Ghanaian government must take into account the effects of corruption, which drive young people to flee the country, use its resources to provide jobs for the impoverished masses and prevent mass deaths on the seas. It's somewhat depressing that a nation that was once at the forefront of cocoa production is now importing cocoa beans from other nations. This should alarm every sane Ghanaian.