Alone on the Boats - Chapter 2: WHERE do the MIGRANT CHILDREN come from?

The unaccompanied minor immigrants (UMI) arrived in Italy via sea in the last six years come from 47 different countries, among which the most common are Eritrea, Egypt, Gambia, Somalia, Nigeria, and Syria. The five African countries are among the first ten nationalities of origins in the whole period 2011/16, while Syria appears only in the years between 2013 and 2015 when the internal war was at its peak. Kids of different nationalities are escaping for different reasons and have unique needs. Below, a broad picture for each country is presented.

During the last few years, the Horn of Africa has been hit by numerous droughts, which led to a food crisis of vast proportions. Two over three kids under 5 years old are underweight or suffer from chronic or severe malnutrition. Moreover, Eritrea and Somalia respectively scored 49th and 3rd on infant mortality. Somalia is the scene of a conflict between the government and opposing military forces, which caused instability throughout the country and spread violence. The UN reported numerous cases of enlisted kids, who were subject to abuses and human rights violations. Minors from Eritrea are also escaping from an oppressive regime, where military conscription exists for both men and women and lasts for an indefinite amount of time, usually years. Boys and girls are taken when still very young, receive six months to one year of training and, afterwards, they have to work for the commanders. They are treated nearly as slaves and paid a remuneration that is insufficient to guarantee survival, causing families to live in extreme poverty. This situation is forcing many kids to abandon school prematurely and start working in the fields or in construction. Many girls accept early combined marriages in order to avoid the unbearable military service.

Concerning UMI from Egypt, the political crisis originated from the Arab Spring in 2011 caused the Egyptian socio-economic system to deteriorate, leading to a sharp decrease in the standards of living. Currently, the 27.8% of the population lives below the poverty threshold. The economic crisis obliged many people, especially from the most rural regions, to migrate with the hope of finding a job in Europe that will permit them to help their families. The 60% of all Egyptian immigrants are minors. An alarming factor is the decreasing average age of the UMI: in 2016, an increase in the arrivals of kids between 12 and 13 years old caused the average age to lower from 16 to 14 years old.

The WTO indicated Nigeria, the Western African giant, as a country with huge potential for economic growth and development. However, in the last few months, Nigeria entered a severe economic crisis, mainly due to the dropping of oil price. In the meantime, a humanitarian crisis emerged from the conflict that has been unfolding in the North-East of the country during the last seven years. Violence already caused more than 20.000 deaths and the dislocation of 2 million people. Furthermore, malnutrition is increasingly spread, affecting the 41% of kids under five years old, and infant mortality is at its peak. Half of the Nigerian population lives in conditions of extreme poverty, with wide a gap between social classes. This is causing an increasing number of kids (3.040 in 2016, three times the number for the precedent year) to seek asylum in Europe.

Gambia is also undergoing a serious food crisis due to environmental changes that caused drought, floods, and epidemics. Again, extreme poverty is widespread and the country is not equipped with functioning infrastructures. Moreover, an internal conflict based on ethnical, linguistic and religious discrimination is ongoing since 25 years. The country is characterized by a systematic repression of freedom of expression and political opposition, and frequent abuses perpetrated by the military and civil authorities. In 2016, the UN reported the use of torture on prisoners by the National Intelligence Agency (NIA). The 6.245 Gambian UMI arrived in Italy in the period 2011/16, half of which only in 2016, were mainly escaping the dictatorial regime and looking for better living conditions.

The description of Nigeria and Gambia pictures well the common socio-economic conditions of other countries in Western Africa, as Guinea, Ivory Coast, Ghana, and Liberia, which are also a major country of origin of young migrants. Guinea is also worth a further analysis, as this country underwent the most severe sanitarian crisis of the last decade due to the outbreak of the Ebola virus epidemics. From 2013, the virus killed 2.536 people, causing 6.220 kids to remain orphan. In June 2016, the WHO officially declared Africa liberated from Ebola. However, countries as Guinea are still facing the social and economic consequences of the crisis.

Finally, Syrian minors are fleeing from a war that, since 2011, caused more than 250.000 deaths and forced about 11 million people to leave their homes. Among them are thousands of kids, however, many just disappeared upon their arrival in Europe. For example, in 2014, only 158 UMI were registered against 945 estimated arrivals. In 2015, the registered minors were 144 against 694 arrivals and, in 2016, they were 102 against a total of 220 UMI arrived. From the data, it clearly appears that the majority of the 2.500 minors entering Italy in the last four years is invisible to the system. It is likely that these kids have found their own means to continue the journey after arriving in Italy, which is not their final destination. This youth, before the war, belonged to relatively wealthy and educated families, who could afford the costs of the trip but could not legally enter Europe. They often lost their parents due to the war, but they have family members waiting for them in other European countries. During their journey, they receive the help of acquaintances or, more often, of smugglers as there are no legal ways for them to cross the frontiers with and within Europe.