Abstract:
This study focused on Italy in particular, as well as other African nations and
investigated if Italy was considered a target country for migration or considered a
transit country into other European countries by African migrants. It also examined
the reasons that influenced African migrants to go through the Libya-Italian route
into Europe and lastly, determined the human trafficking mechanisms in the Libya Italian route into Europe.
The theoretical frameworks on which this study was predicated were the Push
factors and the Pull factors that influenced migration to other nations. Furthermore,
this study was designed as a qualitative research and employed structured face-to face interviews that were mediated through Skype video calls to collect responses
from the 20 interviewees selected for this research.
The study discovered that Italy is predominantly viewed as a sought after
destination country by many African migrants and not merely a transit nation into
other parts of Europe. This study also discovered that the major motivations that
compelled Africans to migrate into Europe via the Libya-Italy route are extreme
poverty, and the closure of the other routes into Europe, such as the Morocco/Tunisia
route.
Lastly, the study also discovered that there exists high degree of synergy in
the activities of the various bodies involved in the various stages of travel in the
Libya-Italy route, as there existed seamless transition from one agency to another in
the different stages of migrant‟s journey to Europe via this Libya/Italy route. On a
final note, this study‟s recommendation among many others is that the governments
of Libya and Europe should facilitate mechanisms that welcome migrants or refugees
in line with the common objective of allowing personal independence and freedom
from poverty.
