The 21st century has seen the development of digital technologies as well as the growth of diverse media channels including the social networks. Many people in Africa rely on both traditional media, regional and local media to receive messages about other countries. In Africa, most of the media reports will be about women who have migrated to the middle East to look for jobs. But despite the negative messages more women than men still go to the Middle East to work as domestic servants and other lowly jobs. The men also migrate as skilled workers. Both the global media and local media present messages about America as the place to be. The media messages create the perception that in America, one can achieve economic stability. From Kenya, there are as many men as women who migrate to the US in search of education, jobs, and a better life.
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Globalization has precipitated an increasing migration for labour in the world and at the same time, it has resulted in decreasing regulation of the labour market, growth in the informal sector, and the emergence of new forms of exploitation. According to the Global Migration Index (2017:17), 258 million International Migrants were counted globally. These were people residing in a country other than their country of birth. This represented 3.4% of the world’s total population. Globally, females comprise 48.8 percent, of the global International migrant stock while children account for 14 percent. Based on changes in migrant stock data over time, researchers estimate globally that 35-40 million people migrate every 5 years. (UN DESA, 2017). In East Africa, Kenya is a source of outward migration to the Middle East, other African countries, Europe and the United States (US). Although there are no reliable figures on the scale of emigration from Kenya, outward migration is believed to be significant and had diaspora population estimate at 475,000 in 2013 (World Bank, 2016).
New technologies allow communication from many to many outside the system of dominant and established media. While media power remains unequally concentrated in the hands of the few, the level of autonomy among alternative, minority and community media has noticeably increased (Castells, 2009). Worthy of note, the media’s role in communicating about migration cannot be overstated. People have used different communication channels to share information about migration. Negative cum even hostile media coverage of migration has accompanied similar rises in anti-immigration parties and political rhetoric. Information available shows that communication from different sources depend on whether the region enjoys free media or not (International Organization for Migration, 2018; Mellendorf, 2018).
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development(UNCTAD) Report(2017) shows that international migration in Africa is primarily a continental phenomenon, contrary to popular perception. In 2017, more than half – 53% of Africa’s international migrants resided within the continent, many of them circulating within the same African region, a fact that both global and local media channels fail to report and when they do, it is gender-blind (UNCTAD, 2017). The institutional basis of the media informs the ways representations are framed, while regulation of the media and of everyday life shape the context and limits of their consumption.
African Migration of North Africans and others to countries outside of Africa has been, and continues to be, much higher than migration to other countries within the sub-region and within Africa (IOM, 2018). Most of those who arrived in Europe originated from West African countries, namely Mali, Guinea, Ivory Coast, and The Gambia, although a significant number of migrants also come from Morocco and Syria. African migrants and asylum seekers are overwhelmingly male, due to persisting gender disparities that give men more financial independence and social mobility. But hidden in the rising rates of migration is the increasing number of women who are choosing to risk the journey. In 2015, Egypt had the largest number of people living abroad, followed by Morocco, Somalia, Sudan and Algeria (Mellendorf, 2018).
North African countries such as Algeria, Egypt, Libya and Morocco’s media rarely reported migration issues from within despite the fact that most of the narratives of migrants on transit to Europe take place in these countries. A study conducted in 17 countries confirmed that these figures reflect the numbers most frequently quoted in Egyptian media, which put the total number of refugees, including economic refugees, living in Egypt in 2016 at 5,000,000, with 4,000,0000 of those African, 500,000 Syrian, and 400,000 Iraqis (EUROMED, 2017).
Notably, African migration is typically viewed through a male lens. However, women are moving more than ever. Whether migrants are fleeing from war or seeking to meet their economic needs, more women migrate independently throughout Africa. It has been noted that many of these women travel to South Africa. The South African report examined the ways in which gender and migration intersect to heighten women’s vulnerabilities. Gender-neutral approaches that put women at risk and gendered perspectives in policy planning and implementation are needed (Aimée-Noël Mbiyozo, 2018).