Youth and the 21^st Century South-North Migration: In Search of a More Relevant Perspective on Causes, Trend and Flow

Michael Onyedika Nwalutu

Humanities, Social Sciences and Social Justice Education, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.

DOI: 10.4236/sm.2014.41001                

Abstract

Advancement in communication and transport technologies has reduced the world to a global community. This has also improved and therefore increased potentials for the movement of individuals, commodities, and capitals across international borders as they respond to global political and socio-economic stimuli. It is apparent though, that transnational borders are relatively more open to capital and commodities than they are to migrant individuals. However, there are vast literature and data on the socio-political and economic dimensions of adults’ involvement in international migration. But the youth are treated as part of their families; hence very few literatures that devoted to youth migration exist. But movement of young adults as independent transnational migrants is an emerging trend in international migration. In this paper, I examined existing perspectives on causes, trend and flow of the 21^st century youth transnational migration with a view to providing appropriate lenses for understanding the phenomenon, particularly as it affects the contemporary massive flow of youth from developing African economies to the industrialized Europe. Reviewed literature focused on the “push and pull” factors considered to be wielding major influence on migration-decisions of transnational migrant subjects. Push and pull approaches essentially construct immigrants as problems to receiving countries. This paper advances the understanding of youth migration from indigenous and anti-colonial perspective in order to disrupt and disturb existing approaches and give a more pellucid lens for understanding this emerging social trend. Significant attempt was made in this paper to highlight the often overlooked outcome of transnational migration which, to the sending and receiving nations, has both positive and negative reflexes. The underlying assumption of the theoretical approach is that any appropriate theory that will inform meaningful migration policy formulation on youth transnational-migration experiences, must consider the cultural environment of these youth. It must as a matter of necessity consider the influence of colonization and neo-colonial processes on their remote social spaces, and engage relevant strategies to establish ways in which reinventing the indigenous worldviews subverted by colonization can equip and empower local youth, thereby balancing, if not reducing the negative trend in transnational youth migration.

Keywords

Transnational; Youth; Migration; Policies; Trend; Flow

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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