Africans of the Diaspora - How it began<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>
Diaspora refers to the scattering of people from their original homeland. The African Diaspora started with the forced dispersion of Africans- in particular Black Africans and their descendants- who were enslaved and moved to places throughout the world - predominantly to the Americas (with the largest population in Brazil) then later to Europe, the Middle East and other places around the globe. Over a period of almost four centuries, approximately four million Africans were captured, enslaved and transported to North America and the Caribbean Islands in the Trans Atlantic slave trade. Approximately four million enslaved Black Africans were transported to island plantations in the Indian Ocean, about eight million were shipped to Mediterranean-area countries, and about eleven million survived the Middle Passage to the New World. <o:p></o:p>
In the 1960’s, as most African countries got their independence from European countries that ruled Africa for most of the 19th and part of the 20th centuries, Africans were given greater access to education in both developed western countries and their own developing countries. Later, these highly qualified and experienced professionals were drawn out of their homelands due to political strife, social conflicts, the sense of adventure for some or by the lure of higher wages for others. The brain drain began of skilled labour migrating from all over Africa primarily to Europe and North America or on a smaller scale internally to a few other African countries such as South Africa or Ivory Coast (where one third of the population are immigrants), etc. This movement to Europe, America and Asia has continued for similar reasons for many professionals of all education and training levels. <o:p></o:p>
In its current acception, the concept of African Diaspora has evolved to refer essentially to Africans living and working outside Africa, with the understanding that Africans in other African countries are not outside their broader Africa homeland.
Africans in Europe - The current situation<o:p></o:p>
The latter part of the twentieth saw an elevated exodus of Africans to Western Europe. Tens of thousands of men and women flee their homeland annually to make the journey to Europe in search of a brighter future, to seek asylum and economic opportunity. According to different estimates, between 65,000 and 120,000 sub-Saharan Africans enter the Maghreb (Mauritania, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, and Libya) annually. Several tens of thousands of Africans try to cross the Mediterranean each year.
In 2006 over one million people migrated to Europe, and the European countries received 299,000 asylum applications. Europe is the primary destination for African migrants due to the countries along the Mediterranean Sea and historical connections, with Spain, Italy, and Malta being the most affected. The majority of African migrants living overseas are in Europe - about 4.6m compared with 890,000 in the US, according to the International Organization for Migration. 36.8% of the total - go to the United Kingdom, while only 4.8% go to South Africa. But, these figures represent the number of people who have emigrated using official channels they do not account for approximately eight million irregular African immigrants living in the EU. About two-thirds of Africans in Europe are from North Africa (Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia). An increasing number of Africans travel from Sub-Saharan Africa, mainly heading for France, Germany, Italy and the UK. The current immigration situation within Europe is perceived as a problem. Thousands of Africans journey monthly in search for work and a better life. Authorities in southern European nations are still struggling however, to patrol for, care for, to process and repatriate this continuing flow of immigrants<o:p></o:p> This movement of people out of Africa also has adverse effects on Africa as it has already lost one third of its human capital and is continuing to lose its skilled personnel at an increasing rate, with an estimated 20,000 doctors, university lecturers, engineers and other professionals leaving the continent annually since 1990.<o:p></o:p> African Diaspora Social Networking
Migrating to another country with a completely different culture and customs requires knowledge, determination, a capacity for adaptation and building a new social network, etc. Meeting like-minded people with similar cultural backgrounds and sharing experience can be crucial to success. A social networking site like AfricaMeet.Net offers an opportunity to Africans of the diaspora to connect among themselves, discuss issues of interest to them, organize for action, share insights and answer questions from each other.
Africans of the diaspora represent a large and diverse community that share common challenges and opportunities. As they succeed abroad, they can also make a difference in Africa. <o:p></o:p>
