An issue the rarely gets on the radar here in North America -- the problem of illegal immigration to Europe from Africa:
A July 2006 report by the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime said that at least 200,000 Africans enter Europe clandestinely every year. Another 100,000 try but are intercepted, and countless others try but lose their way or their lives, it said.
Some leave from West Africa in rickety boats trying to reach the Canary islands. Others try to cross the Sahara desert and then try to cross the Mediterranean via Morocco or Libya. Still others leave via Somalia to try to get into Europe or the Gulf via Yemen.
The tally of illegal Sub-Saharan Africans coming ashore in the Canaries has risen sharply -- more than 21,000 so far this year, more than five times the 2005 total.
Spain, in the frontline of Europe's fight to curb clandestine migration, has lost patience with what it sees as a poor response from African countries to its pleas for help.
Now Spain is not being fair. Libya's Muammar Gaddafi has responded with an idea for a concrete solution -- bribery:
European nations should pay 10 billion euros (6.8 billion pounds) [US$10 billion] a year to Africa to help it stop migrants seeking a better life flooding northwards into Europe, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi said on Saturday.
In a speech to an African Union (AU) ceremony, Gaddafi added that African and European leaders should meet soon to discuss the phenomenon, which has soared to unprecedented levels and touched off internal political disputes in many European states.
"In our final statement we will ask Europe to pay 10 billion euros per year if it really wants to stop migration towards Europe," Gaddafi said.
He was speaking at a AU gathering of African presidents and prime ministers marking the seventh anniversary of a summit of African leaders that decided to set up the African Union and set out a timetable for doing so.
What is the African Union?
The African Union, or AU, is a pan-African organisation whose goal is to propel a united continent towards peace and prosperity.
The AU supports political and economic integration among its 53 member nations. It aims to boost development, eradicate poverty and bring Africa into the global economy.
I supposed blackmailing Europe is one way to eradicate poverty, but I'm not sure how that brings Africa into the global economy. The AU is Gaddafi's idea:
Conceived by the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who proposed a "United States of Africa", its structure is loosely modelled on that of the European Union.
Pan-Africanism has always been a major factor in Gaddafi's world-view:
Billboards along the highway breeze by in quick succession pronouncing the 36 years of Qaddafi's revolution. Another proclaims in Arabic, French and English that “Africa will not live on the charities of the G8.” All feature the outline of Africa, with the writing superimposed on the continent. Pan-Africanism has long been an underlying tenet of Qaddafi's geo-political aspirations, but it has become more overtly expressed in recent years.
Despite what the Libyan propagandists have written on the billboards leading to Tripoli about Africa disdaining charity, Gaddafi's AU has charity built into its official plans. Well, "blackmail" might be a better word:
The AU oversees the New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad), an anti-poverty blueprint which offers a bargain with the West: the promotion of good political and economic practice in return for more aid and investment.
How about the promotion of good political and economic practice just for the sake of it, and because they lead to prosperity? Let's start with more democracy. How about with, say, the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, better known as Libya? Libya got the lowest rankings in both "Political Rights" and "Civil Liberties" by Freedom House, joining such nations as Uzbekistan, Burma, Cuba, North Korea, Sudan, Syria, and Turkmenistan in the exclusive club.
Why should Europe pay $10 billion? Isn't there a better source for that money? An African source? So Africa would not have to live on foreign "charities"?
According to the CIA World Factbook, Libya took in revenues of $25.34 billion in 2005, 95% of it coming from oil. Total expenditures, $15.47 billion, leaving a net surplus of $9.877 billion.
Look at that. Sounds just about right. I think the EU can tell Gaddafi to put his money where his Pan-African mouth is.
