ShareBEIRUT: More than half of young Arabs in north Africa and the Levant say they are actively trying to emigrate or considering leaving their home countries in search of better jobs abroad, a research shows.
The latest Arab Youth Survey by global communications agency Asda’a BCW, released on Thursday, found that 53 percent of people aged 18-24 in Levantine countries — Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen and the Palestinian territories — and 48 percent of those in north Africa wanted to move abroad to find work. The figure drops to 27 percent in the oil and gas exporting countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council, where living standards are higher than in the rest of the region, the Financial Times reported quoting the survey.
Canada tops the list of preferred destinations, with 34 percent of those surveyed choosing the country. The US followed at 30 percent, Germany and the UK were picked by 20 percent each and France by 17 percent. “The desire to emigrate corresponds with the bleak economic outlook in many Arab nations,” said Asda’a BCW, which has conducted the survey annually for the past 15 years. In the survey, 72 percent of young Levantines and almost two-thirds of young North Africans said their national economy was going in the “wrong direction”.
About two-thirds of respondents in both North Africa and the Levant said their governments did not have the right policies to address their most important concerns. Youths are the largest demographic group in the Arab world, with one in five people aged 15-24, according to UN figures. Youth unemployment at an average of 26 percent is the highest in the world, the World Bank says.
In Tunisia — where youth unemployment rose to 40.2 percent in the first quarter of 2023, according to official figures — many young people said they wanted to leave the country. Hakim Hadidin, a 19-year-old in the final year of school, said, “Is there anyone who doesn’t want to leave? This country has never had a future, not since I was born.” Fellow student Malika Atwani said she wanted to move to France. “My family is fine with it because they want me to have a future.”
Lebanon has seen an exodus of young people, many of whom have sought jobs and education abroad since its financial meltdown began in 2019. The currency has lost more than 98 percent of its value against the dollar since then, impoverishing 80 percent of the population and eradicating much of the middle class.
The World Bank estimated remittance flows to Lebanon at $6.4 billion in 2022, making it the third highest globally in terms of its contribution to the country’s GDP, at 36 percent. “Youth emigration is a huge drain on the economy of the Arab world, which must be stopped if the region is to benefit from the youth dividend,” said Sunil John, BCW’s president for the Middle East and north Africa.— AFP
