Migration Study centre has said that in 2020, Nigeria received about 17 per cent of both legal and illegal migrants from West Africa, which makes the country the second recipient of migrants after Côte d’Ivoire which has 34 per cent.
The centre further stated that West Africa hosted 7.64 million migrants in mid-year 2020, with Nigeria hosting 1.3 million migrants and Côte d’Ivoire having 2.6 million.
This was disclosed during the 3rd migration roundtable on human trafficking and smuggling of migrants and contraband in West Africa: Patterns, Trends and Consequences on Regional Integration organised by Migration Study Centre, Abuja.
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The chairman of Migration Study Centre, Professor Sam Smah during his presentation, said that most migrants from Western African countries stay in the region, with 2 out of 3 living in another Western African country in 2020.
He said, however, that migration destinations have diversified in recent years.
“There are several different sub-regional patterns of trafficking and smuggling and the crimes are continuously changing as the traffickers and smugglers exploit the factors that make countries and persons vulnerable to the crimes.
Most migrants from Western African countries stay in the region, with 2 out of 3 living in another Western African country in 2020. However, migration destinations have diversified in recent years.
He said according to the UN DESA, 2020 report, the share of Western African migrants residing in North America rose from 3 per cent of all emigrants from Western Africa in 1990 to 10 per cent in mid-year 2020, and the share in Europe rose from 12 per cent to almost 19 per cent during the same period.
“The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)’s fifth global report on trafficking in persons to stakeholders from the government of Nigeria, civil society organisations, and international partners shows that children represent more than 75% of trafficked victims detected in West Africa.
“The report covers 148 countries and more than 95 per cent of the world’s population, using primarily official statistics on trafficking cases between 2016 and 2019. Countries in West Africa tend to detect more victims than other countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, mainly children, and forced labour. Out of 4799 victims detected in 26 Sub-Saharan African countries, 3336 were in West Africa including 2553 children.
Also in his presentation, Reverend Fr Emeka Obiezu, coordinator of Migration Network, said West Africa experiences trafficking in the three migration dynamics of origin, transit and destination.
He said conviction rates of migrants in the region remain lower than in other parts of the world despite an increasing number of sub-Saharan countries introducing a specific offence against trafficking in persons in line with the United Nations definition (38 in 2020 compared to 2 in 2003).
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