Dangerous exits

A report by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) on the movement of children and young people across the Mediterranean and into Europe provides a snapshot of the misery and difficulties that those between 14 and 24 face — many of them originating in Pakistan and Afghanistan. About 46 per cent of the Pakistanis in this demographic reach Europe in less than three months whilst 27 per cent take between three and six months. They will have given between $1,000 and $5,000 to the traffickers, and will have been harassed and exploited along the way with 89 per cent reporting in these categories. Those travelling alone are the most vulnerable as are those with low levels of education and those on longer journeys. The motivations behind the decision to leave were war, violence and exploitation, with about a third of adolescents and just under half of those 20+ citing economic reasons. The report is a collection of numbers that tells little of the human story behind the cold figures.

Whatever the reason thousands of young people of Pakistan origin are choosing to pay a lot of money to take them away from their birthplace to a country where they may have no roots or relatives, may speak none of the languages and have few if any skills that are able to be parlayed into a job and an income. These are not young people from elite families. They are mostly poorly educated, yet the lure of Europe is so strong that they risk everything, their lives included, in a bid to get there. Assuming they do, they will find they live life on the margins, possibly poorer than in their own country, and a mountain to climb in terms of gaining acceptance and a life worth the living. A pitiful reflection of how bleak some of the younger generation sees their future in the country.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 19^th, 2017.

Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.