The Negative Impact of Illegal Migration on Somali Youths

Abstract

The purposes and objectives of this paper are addressing the negative impacts of illegal migration on Somali youths and also presenting the root causes of the massive illegal emigration of Somali youths from their homeland – Somalia – and their illegal immigration to the western countries by passing via Libya as a gateway to the European Continent which they immigrate to illegally. Many Somali youths & young adults, including nuclear families and extended families, travell to Europe through Libya, in search of a better life and new opportunities, but unfortunately they lose their dear lives in the Mediterranean Sea on their risky way to the European countries.

This paper explores the physical impacts which result from the physical punishments and tortures which are inflicted on Somali youths by the outlawed Libyan human traffickers who usually showcase on the social media outlets humiliated Somali youth and young adults whom they take as financial captives, imprison them in hidden houses and then beat them up for the sake of getting huge ransom from their kith and kin who do not afford paying the heavy ransom which they demand to get so swiftly.

This paper also sheds light on the negative impacts of illegal migration on Somali peoples’ economy and how it drains Somali parents of their meagre income and how it results in a financial crisis as well as an economic hurdle, as Somalia which has a population of 18,143, 37814 million. Directorate of Culture and Higher Education (2025) and is situated in the Horn of Africa is recovering from the plights of the prolonged Somali armed conflicts which have been causing the said mass exodus of the Somali youths’ emigration since the inception of the Somali civil war in 1991.

This in mind, this paper also investigates the psychological impact of illegal migration on the Somali youths who hail from a fragile nation – Somalia – which joined the East African Community on March the 4^th 2024. Being a member of this block and being a nation whose youths and young adults immigrate to the Western World, while passing through some East African counties such as Ethiopia and Kenya, and using them as exits from the African continent. Also, a nation which assumed its non-permanent seat on the Security Council of the United Nations on January the 1^st 2025, Somalia is bound to the laws, (including international law), conventions and protocols about the global migration, is in a dire need of conducting conclusive and comprehensive researches on the impact of illegal migration on its human resource since Somalia is dedicated to implementing the 2060 vision of its National Transformation Plan which is a developmental milestone for achieving a long-term national vision that is, in light with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which are to be maximised by all.

In conclusion, this paper focuses on the following four main points: Physical impacts of illegal migration on Somali young adults, Psychological impacts of illegal migration on Somali youths, Financial impacts of illegal migration on Somali parents, and Economic impacts of illegal migration on Somali community.