Since 2015, the European Union (EU) has been promoting information campaigns in countries of origin of refugees. The aim of these campaigns is to raise awareness of the dangers of flight and people smuggling by smugglers, thereby reducing irregular migration. A study by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has now investigated the impact of these campaigns. Interviews with around 13,000 young adults in local areas of ten countries in Africa and Asia, including Nigeria, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Somalia, were analysed.
The surprising result: if the interviewees were aware of the campaigns, they did not have the effect of deterring them, but rather of increasing their interest in migrating. Depending on the region, between 4% and 86% of the young adults surveyed had seen or heard some form of information about migration in the past year, most frequently in the form of warnings about flight and emigration. However, it was clear that such warnings rarely had an impact on the desire to migrate and in fact most often led to a higher desire to leave the country.
The authors of the study explain this as follows: because the topic of “migration” appeared more frequently in the public debate, interest in it also grew—even if the campaigns were actually meant as a “warning” and were often understood as such. Repeatedly reading information about migration could lead to people becoming more aware of the possibility of migration. And even if the campaigns emphasised the risks, people, on the other hand, also know migrants who have succeeded in emigrating. They come to the conclusion that they are also personally able to avoid the dangers.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is an organisation of the United Nations that has been working for humane and orderly migration since 1951 and implements aid programmes for migrants at national and intergovernmental level. It has 175 member states and is represented in over 100 countries.
Summary of the study in English:
pub2023-073-el-mpp-50-3rd-issue_0.pdf (iom.int)
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Flüchtlingsunterkunft Tübingen. Foto: tünews INTERNATIONAL / Mostafa Elyasian.
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