The Root Causes of Trans-Saharan and Mediterranean Irregular Migration by Africans: An Appraisal

Abstract

The contemporary trans-Saharan and Mediterranean irregular migration to Europe assumed an alarming rate from the early 1970s when Western countries, experiencing high unemployment due to the oil crisis of the 1973, introduced strict visa requirements for migrants who hitherto were exempted. This paper, therefore, investigated the root-causes of this irregular migration across the Saharan Desert and Mediterranean Sea. While adopting conceptual analysis as a methodological guide in clarifying the meaning of concepts, the paper relied on the combination of Systems theory in social work and Dependency theory as the framework.  The findings of the study revealed that the high growth of poverty, unemployment and growing worse socio-economic conditions in the Sub-Saharan Africa in the sixties, seventies, eighties, and till date, account for the mass movement of people within and outside the continent. The paper, therefore, recommended a strategic action plan to address the continuing poverty growth in the source region of migrants. Also, formulation and implementation of policies and programmes that would promote education, mechanised agriculture and industrialisation would be needed to mitigate irregular migration across the Sahara Desert and Mediterranean Sea.