Millions making plans to leave Africa for Europe and US

Millions making plans to leave Africa for Europe and US

Nearly 1.5 million people have left sub-Saharan Africa for Europe and the United States since 2010, while millions more are making plans to follow in their footsteps, researchers said on Thursday.

Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya were the biggest sources of migrants to Europe and the United States among the dozens of nations south of the Sahara, according to the Pew Research Center, a polling and demographic research group in Washington.

Migrants leave homelands that offer few job prospects, low wages and the dangers of conflict, political instability and modern day slavery, the study said.

More than a third of people surveyed in Senegal, Ghana and Nigeria said they had actual plans to move in the next five years, according to the report.

Europe saw an influx of at least 1 million people from sub-Saharan Africa, most of whom headed to the United Kingdom, followed by France. More than 400,000 sub-Saharan migrants went to the United States, according to the report.

Many more people – nearly 5 million – have moved to other sub-Saharan countries since 2010, mostly as refugees, the report said.

[Reuters]

This entry was posted in Humanitarian Aid, International Cooperation by Grant Montgomery.