Mike hasn’t told any of his friends or family
that he’s left France, even though he’s been
back in Nigeria for nearly six months.
“They’d say I was mad,” he said.
The 25-year-old returned to Benin City in
Nigeria’s south, more than 1,000 kilometres
(600 miles) from the region where he grew
up — and far from the uncle who paid over
the odds to get him to Paris.
For Mike, Europe stopped being a promised
land when he was refused leave to stay. He
still has the letter from the authorities which
turned his world upside down.
It stated simply he could either appeal the
decision or go home. He chose the latter
after four years in France where the reality
of life didn’t meet his expectations.
“The conditions were very difficult,” he told
AFP. “When we’re in our country we feel that
if you go to Europe… it’s better.
“But when we arrived there, you discover it’s
more difficult.”
– Voluntary returns –
In 2015, 153,000 migrants arrived in the
European Union via the Italian coast,
according to the International Organization
for Migration. The largest number — about
22,000 — were Nigerians.
In May last year, Brussels opened talks with
Abuja to make “readmission agreements”
easier and oblige Nigeria to take back its
nationals.
Return, however, is not always
straightforward.
Often there are fears of extortion by those
who helped migrants to leave in the first
place, of being killed by people-smuggling
gangs or simply not having enough money
to start a new life.
The EU’s Directorate General for Migration
and Home Affairs says some 400,000 to
500,000 non-EU nationals are ordered to
leave the bloc every year because they are
staying irregularly.
But only 40 percent are sent back to their
home country or the country from where
they left to reach the EU.
In 2013, France’s then-interior minister
Manuel Valls drastically reduced financial
support to help undocumented immigrants
return home.
Last year, there were only 4,748 voluntary
returnees, down from 15,840 in 2011,
according to France’s integration and
immigration bureau, the OFII.
Mike was one of only four Nigerians whose
return was approved in 2015.
He has since been able to start a business
selling cement. He runs it with pride, even
though it doesn’t bring in much money.
– Drop in the ocean –
Benin City has long been known as Nigeria’s
capital of human trafficking and especially
prostitution.
A number of projects are running in the city
to both prevent locals being tempted to risk
everything to reach Europe and to help those
who have returned. One of them is run by
Idia Renaissance.
The local non-profit group was founded in
1999 by the wife of the former Edo state
governor and has worked with the Roman
Catholic charity Caritas across Europe.
But project coordinator Roland Nwoha said
that since 2009 there have only been 50
voluntary returnees — a drop in the ocean
given the huge increase in migration to
Europe in recent years.
Fear is the main factor: women are often
subjected to black magic rituals before they
leave, with dire warnings about what will
happen if they don’t repay their debts of up
to 60,000 euros ($66,000).
For others, few want to return to a life of
extreme hardship or simply admit failure to
family and friends, said Nwoha.
“As long as the economic situation (in
Nigeria) remains in a very terrible shape,
people will continue to move in search for
better opportunities,” he added.
– ‘Where is your money?’ –
Gloria — not her real name — only lasted a
month working as a prostitute on the
streets of Naples, in southern Italy and says
she is much happier now she has left.
She told her “madam” she was going to see
a client, then for two days the 21-year-old
hid in the city before finding the Nigerian
consulate.
“When I got there they asked me, ‘Where is
your money to buy your return ticket? Go
away’,” she recalled.
Mike had a similar experience, having to
prove his nationality to his government to
get a temporary passport.
Gloria returned to Nigeria two months after
she turned up at the consulate but only
thanks to Caritas. She stayed in Lagos
before deciding to return home, where she
now works as a seamstress.
She finally explained to her family “the time
it would take for me to amass the 10 million
naira to build you a house, my body would
already be broken”.
“Now they understand,” she added.
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