Globalization, the Media, and Challenges of Illegal Migration for Africa

Introduction

There is no denying the fact that with progress and advances in international cooperation, the world we live has become more connected than ever. Information, commodities, people, and money flow rapidly across national boundaries, a phenomenon often referred to as globalization (Rowntree et al 2000, Ritzer, 2011).

Globalization is not recent as some scholars (Giddens & Sutton, 2013) have agreed. It has been occurring over a very long period of human history and is certainly not restricted to the contemporary world (Nederveen, 2004; Hopper, 2007), although debates around it became intensified some few decades ago. Therborn (2011, p. 2) posits that:

Therborn’s (2011) contention suggests that contemporary sociological debates have focused more on the sheer pace and intensity of globalization over the past 40 years. It is this central idea of an intensification of the globalization process that differentiates this modern era from others.

The most important challenges facing the world in the twenty-first century are associated with globalization, the increasing interconnectedness of people and places through converging processes of economic, political and cultural change. Once – distant regions are now increasingly linked together through commerce, communications, and travel. Many observers argue that globalization is the fundamental reorganization of the planet’s socio-economic structures since the industrial revolution. While few dispute the widespread changes brought about by globalization, not everyone agrees on the implications, or whether the benefit outweigh the costs (Rowntree et al., 2000).

The dispute and disagreement notwithstanding, most nations of the world including countries in Africa have benefited immensely from the opportunities presented by globalization. The remarkable growth Africa has enjoyed in recent times, for instance, has been largely due to a globalized system that distributes wealth (albeit unequally) and encourages trade, even though deeply flawed (Adio, 2018, p. 29). Dappa & Thom-Otuya (2010) however note that globalization has distorted the economic development of third world countries in several ways.

The movement of people across geographical region has become a topical issue in the discussion of population and development related issues worldwide. Of late, migration has been at the centre of disagreement between the mainly poor origin countries and the richer host nations mainly in Europe. While industrial countries are promoting easier flow of capital, goods and services (which they mainly supply), they are at the same time restricting the movement of labour, which comes from developing countries. The flow of illegal migrants is often from poorer countries to richer countries. The people involved often are not the poorest in their home countries. They tend to be people with a lot of information, knowledge, ambition and motivation, which often fuels their desire to migrate to host countries as a result of war, political persecution and economic reasons (Onyekwere, Nwachukwu, & Egenuka, 2018, p. 45).

Africa is one of the continents with the highest number of migrants, legal and illegal. This is mainly due to the high level of poverty, festering ethnic conflicts, terrorism etc. Illegal migration is major challenge in the continent. African migrants mainly young men and women have become vulnerable as they move in drove to Europe enroute Libya where they are tortured, sexually abused (in case of women), incarcerated in detention camps and eventually sold into slavery.