Passage Forty-Seven The emigration rush 【1】A current buzzword in Nigeria is japa, a Yoruba verb meaning to run, flee or escape. So many Nigerians, most notably doctors and nurses, are seeking jobs abroad that politicians are bemoaning the “japa syndrome”—and have been debating(discussing) ways to stem the outward flow. No one yet has an answer.
【2】Meanwhile hospitals are losing qualified(eligible) staff at an alarming(striking) rate, as droves of doctors and nurses head for America, Britain, Canada, the Gulf states and elsewhere in search of better pay and working conditions.
【3】In the past eight years, by one count, at least 5,600 doctors have left for Britain, leaving only 24,000 registered doctors to cater for a burgeoning(rising) population of around 220m. The Association of Resident Doctors fears that 85% of those left behind are planning to emigrate, too.
【4】MPs complain that countries such as America, Canada and Saudi Arabia, which often stage recruitment drives for doctors in Nigerian cities, are in effect exploiting the country’s highly subsidised medical-education system at the expense of Nigeria’s own suffering people.
【5】The government has been half-heartedly scrambling for clever ways to persuade medical professionals to stay. A parliamentary bill proposed(suggested) that new doctors would be legally bound to stay in Nigeria for at least five years after qualifying. In the face of the doctors’ threat to go on strike if this were enacted, the government backed down.
【6】Many thousands of other talented Nigerians are trying to leave. Britain offers a “global talent” visa valid(effective) initially for five years and doles out thousands of student visas.
【7】The recipients often fail to return home. Many of those less fortunate strike out across the Sahara desert, putting their lives in the hands of smugglers and traffickers to take them on perilous(dangerous) voyages across the Mediterranean to Europe. Some drown, or end up in thrall to Arab slavers in Libya or in vile(disgusting) detention camps across north Africa.
【8】On the plus side, those who succeed abroad provide a huge inflow of remittances. Last year, they sent back an estimated $20bn, on top of $148bn in the previous seven years: far more than arrived in foreign direct investment. 【9】In the short run, the desire to leave is too ardent(enthusiastic) for governments to stop. All told, 73% of Nigerians in 2021 wanted to go, according to the Nigeria Social Cohesion Survey, which was up by 41 percentage points on the previous one, in 2019.
【10】With corruption and physical insecurity rampant, annual inflation at 23%, and 63% of adult Nigerians deemed “multidimensionally poor”, it is no surprise that the japa syndrome is stronger than ever. 第四十七课 移民潮 目前尼日利亚的流行词是“japa”,它是约鲁巴语的一个动词,意思是“逃离”、“逃跑”或“出逃”。出国寻找工作的尼日利亚人(其中大部分是医护人员)如此之多,以至于政客们对“japa综合征”表示担忧,并且一直在讨论如何遏制人才外流。但到目前为止还没有人能给出解决方案。 与此同时,由于大批医护人员为了高薪和更好的工作环境而前往美国、英国、加拿大、海湾国家及其他地区,医院正在以惊人的速度失去合格的员工。 据统计,在过去的8年间,至少有5600名医生离职前往英国,仅剩的24000名注册医师要为约2.2亿日益增长的人口服务。住院医生协会担忧,留在国内的医生中,有85%的人也在计划移民。 议员们抱怨称,美国、加拿大、沙特阿拉伯等国经常在尼日利亚各大城市里组织医生招募活动,这些国家实际上是以尼日利亚受苦的民众为代价,剥削本国高度依赖补贴的医疗教育体系。 尼日利亚政府并未尽力寻找有效方法劝服医护人员留在国内。一项议会法案提议新医生应当在取得资质后在国内至少待5年。但医生威胁若此法案通过则会进行罢工,鉴于此,政府选择了让步。 尼日利亚其他领域的成千上万的精英人士也想出国。英国提供“全球杰出人才”签证,有效期为5年,并发放了数千份学生签证。 得到签证的人往往不会再回国了。很多没那么幸运的尼日利亚人选择穿越撒哈拉沙漠,把生命交给人口走私者和贩卖者,让他们带自己通过危险航程穿越地中海到达欧洲。有些人在途中溺亡,亦或是落入位于利比亚的阿拉伯奴隶主手中,还有人则落入北非恶劣的禁闭营内。 从积极的一面来看,成功出国的人会为国内带来丰厚的汇款。去年,出国人群向国内大约寄了200亿美元,在之前的七年里寄回约1480亿美元:远超尼日利亚国内的外国直接投资。 从短期来看,人们移民的意愿过于强烈,政府难以阻止。总而言之,根据尼日利亚社会凝聚调查,2021年,73%的尼日利亚人希望移民,比2019年进行的调查上升了41%。 尼日利亚国内腐败猖獗,人们的人身安全得不到保障,年通胀率达23%,63%的成年人属于“多维贫困”,因此“japa综合征”比以往更为强烈,也就不足为奇了。 |
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