DRUGS, FLIGHT, AND MIGRATION. A COMPARISON OF NORTH AND WEST AFRICA, NEAR EAST AND EUROPE
ERHARD SCHULZ (1), HUSSEIN ALMOHAMAD (2), SANI IBRAHIM (3)
(1) Institut für Geographie und Geologie, Universität Würzburg, Germany, e-mail: Erhard.schulz@mail.uni-wuerzburg.de
(2) Department of Geography, Quassim University, Saudi Arabia, e-mail: H.Almohamad@qu.edu.sa
(3) Departement de Géographie, Université Abdou Moumouni, Niamey, République du Niger, e-mail: Mamsani75@yahoo.fr
ABSTRACT. Drugs, Flight, and Migration. A Comparison of North and West
Africa, Near East and Europe. Even foreseeable, the migration wave of 2015
did confuse Europe profoundly. For long time one argued on “push and pull” or on implantation in the demographic transition as the backgrounds of immigration. Moreover, an enforced and constant immigration was claimed for the Central European countries in order to assure the life standard. On the other side, it was impossible to develop standards for migration and flight- beyond the Geneva Convention. In parallel to that, the weight of the “informal” part of production and trade was widely neglected on the official as on the academic level. Thus, a – time wise – tight connected economic system of drug trade/traffic and the transport of migrants or refugees developed since the 1990s. By now, it is interwoven with the various terror-groups, militias or officials too. Both parts of that well-organised system see Europe as their main destination, but Africa is systematically developed as a future market for drugs too. It is clear, that the civil population is suffering most in all the regions. Maps for five time slices – the 1960s, the 1970s, the 1990s, 2015, and 2018 will present the different interconnections of drug traffic and migration/flight. They show the traditional system of migration and flight up to the 1990s, when the international drug traffic interconnected with the various terror groups and shaped a new economic system. The initiatives of the European Union to stop or channelize migration and future chances for the region will have to cope with them.
Keywords: Drug trafficking, flight, migration, North and West Africa, Near East, Europe