The Afrikans Migrants Crisis – Why Afrikans Should Stay At Home: Dr Kwame Osei

The sad and pathetic scenes of Afrikans risking their lives to go to as they see it greener pastures is very disheartening but there are some truths that these and many other Afrikans who have the desire to come to Europe need to know – Many Afrikans are unaware of what is happening right now in Europe and assume that Europe is a land of milk and honey and that they can ‘make it’ in Europe.

From London to Rome, from Paris to Athens the severe economic crisis to visit Europe is having such a severe on the very existence of the European Union (EU) and this special feature is to inform Ghanaians especially Ghanaian youth who seek “greener” pastures in Europe of the extreme crisis in Europe and why they should stay at home.

The current debt crisis that is sweeping across the whole of Europe and not just the EU is a treat to the very existence of the Euro and the entire European project as a whole.

The debt crisis in Europe has meant that Greece which is at the forefront has a 150% of its GDP servicing debt whilst the likes of the UK, France and Italy have between 70 and 85% of its GDP servicing its debt - and this is why I am shocked to see Ghanaian youth queue relentlessly outside major European embassies seeking that all important visa to go to Europe.

What many of our mis-guided and mis-informed youth are not aware of is the severity of this debt crisis in Europe and that they naively assume that they will get that visa that will drastically change their lives.

Let us then proceed to inform our youth of the crisis facing Europe by having a snapshot of four of the popular countries that our youth want to go to. These are the UK, Italy, Spain and Germany.

The UK:
The UK has traditionally being a favored destination of Ghanaians/Afrikans seeking new opportunities and greener pastures. However the current reality facing the UK is very bleak indeed.

During the New Labour years (1997-2010), the British government borrowed excessively. As a result of this excessive borrowing the UK now has a massive debt of around 3 trillion pounds. This stark reality has led the Conservative-Liberal coalition government to embark on a massive austerity package that has hit the public sector especially very hard.

As a result of these austerity measures that are set to continue to until 2020, the UK is experiencing unprecedented numbers of unemployed people with 1 in 3 young people under 25 unable to find work.

In addition to this there have been massive closures of businesses, with many people losing their homes with many others struggling to pay their mortgages because of job insecurity.

Also major British banks such as the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Lloyds and Barclays have all received massive government bailouts as the threat of these banks getting bankrupt was too big a price for Britain to pay.

In response to these severe measures, just last yesterday in the English city of London more than 35,000 people went on a demonstration to vent their anger at the nature of these austerity measures.

However, British Prime Minister, David Cameron, after winning the UK General Election is adamant that these austerity measures are the ONLY way to tackle Britain's massive public debt, signifying that hard times are here to stay.

In addition to this just recently the British government has just passed a bill that will make it extremely difficult for Ghanaians seeking entry to the United Kingdom as it has been suggested that there are too many Ghanaians/Afrikans in the UK as immigration was such a huge issue in the just held General Election. In actual fact at a recent EU meeting is Brussels in response to the migrant issue Mr. Cameron made it absolutely clear that Britain WILL NOT TAKE any refugees

Italy:
The last 15 years has seen a steady number of Ghanaians/Afrikans in Italy and Italy appears to be taking the brunt of the migrants that have made it to the shores of Europe be it Lampedusa on island of Sicily. Italy just like the UK has a massive national debt that stands at more than 1.8 trillion Euros. Again as in many other European countries Italy has embarked on an austerity programme to cut its massive debt.

Again as a result of this, Italy is facing big problems with unemployment especially its youth with many of them as a result of their inability to get a job now have to rely on their parents for financial support.

Another facet of this European debt crisis is that Italian banks have been exposed to some of the biggest debt burdens namely in Greece and indeed Fitch ratings last week cut Italy's sovereign credit rating by one notch citing the risk of fiscal slippage in the Italian economy making job creation very doubtful indeed.

Spain:
Spain is one of the European countries at the forefront of this European debt burden which has resulted in huge unemployment especially the young as Spanish firms are either closing down or refusing to hire new staff. It is fair to say that there is an unemployment crisis in Spain with over 40% of under 25 year olds on the dole and generally speaking there are now 1in 5 Spanish people without a job representing the highest unemployment figures in Europe.

In addition to this unemployment crisis as with other European countries many Spanish people are seeing their houses being re-possessed because of their inability to pay their rents/mortgages with many more struggling to make ends meet.

In economic terms, Spain's simultaneous property-bubble collapse and debt crisis mean the country will face years of adjustment to a lower living standard and a less generous government. Given the country's comparatively strong underlying economy, it does not face a Greek-style lender panic, but it will likely be more than a decade before its economy returns to its previous levels.

Germany:
Germany is by far the biggest economy in Europe and is one of the founding fathers of the European project. Germany is still struggling to pay for the re-unification of the country that happened in 1990 as a result of the fall of the Berlin Wall and communism.

Apart from coping with the huge unemployment in East Germany, Germany once the world's largest exporter (having lost that title to China) now has to cope with the debt burden of struggling EU states such as Greece.

Just last week the German parliament voted to support a measure that will enable Germany to bailout Greece much to the dislike of many Germans who are being asked to pay for the financial mismanagement of Greece.

Although unemployment in Germany is not a huge problem as with other nations in the EU, the exposure that the German taxpayers and the German economy generally is being exposed to will mean that possibly fewer jobs will be created especially with the serious scenario that GREECE WILL DEFAULT ON ITS DEBTS AND BE FORCED TO LEAVE THE EU.

Conclusion:
Therefore given the above scenario that exists in many European countries, why on earth are Afrikans especially Afrikan youth queuing at western embassies hoping to get that visa and worse still risking their lives trekking across the vast Sahara Desert and then drowning in the Mediterranean in a desperate bid to go to Europe.

The truth of the matter is that the recession and in some cases depression in Europe with all its financial difficulties is not a place where one can richly improve their quality of life.

The days where the pastures were greener in Europe are long gone and the reality now is that most of not the whole of Europe faces some very difficult years as member nations try and grapple with the double whammy of growing public debt and high unemployment meaning that the opportunities that were once available are now virtually non-existent.

To buttress this point the President of the European Central Bank, Jean-ClaudeTrichet said “the high interconnectedness in the EU financial system has led to a rapidly rising risk of significant contagion. It threatens financial stability in the EU as a whole and adversely impacts the real economy in Europe and beyond”

Again with possibly a re-alignment of the European Union in terms of its monetary, fiscal and political union the EU in the short to medium term will continue to face high unemployment meaning that in light of immigration concerns, employment for Afrikan people seeking entry into the EU will be very grave indeed.

Therefore given this bleak outlook Ghanaian and Afrikan youth should seek the alternative and that is to stay at home. The money that some are using to get visas in some regions up to US$6,000 could be used to start a business here in Ghana or others parts of the continent.

On that note of visas it is wholly unacceptable that these European embassies'/high commissions should be charging this exorbitant amount just to secure a visa which they know because of the political issues that surround immigration in Europe, they will not issue is not only immoral but unjustified.

Therefore Afrikans seeking entry into the EU should use that money to start a life here in Afrika. Contrary to what most people may think, there is an abundance of opportunities if they are prepared to be bold and take those opportunities.