Young Men In Africa Are Deserting Their Homes To Migrate To Europe

Local activists and would-be migrants Moussa Kebe (L) and Ousmane Thiam (R) pose for a photo on a farm in Goudiry, Senegal, September 5, 2016. REUTERS/Mikal McAllister

Reuters: No country for young men: Senegal's villages deserted for dreams of Europe

GOUDIRY, Senegal (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Slumped on a bench in a village in southeast Senegal - which is lifeless but for the occasional bleating of goats and splutter of old motorcycles - Aliou Thiam has only one thing on his mind.

The 28-year-old is preparing to leave behind his wife, two children and the only life he has known in the pursuit of a goal shared by many young men across Senegal: reaching Europe.

"I don't have anything here. That is why I want to go, why I need to go," he said, glancing at several men lying nearby in the shade, snoozing through the still, sweltering afternoon.

"The only thing we know is migration," Thiam told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "Migration equals success."

Thousands of Senegalese men set off for Europe each year, risking their lives on treacherous journeys through the Sahara desert and across the Mediterranean sea. Most fail. Many die.

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WNU Editor: Their deserting their wives, kids, families, etc. for a better life in Europe .... and this migration shows no signs of decreasing. On a personal note .... if I had a family I would not leave. But if I was single in living in one of these "hell-holes" .... I will be doing everything in my power to get out.