It is a well-known fact that migration has never been a tradition among the Chadian people. Despite numerous wars and harsh living conditions, they have traditionally chosen to stay in their homeland. Some analysts attribute this to a ‘lack of appetite for adventure’ among Chadians. However, in recent years, significant numbers of young people have left the country in search of opportunities elsewhere. What explains this mass exodus?

The Blog de Moussé blogpost highlights that widespread youth unemployment, exacerbated by a lack of opportunities for graduates, is prompting many to seek their fortune abroad. The same source quotes disillusioned young graduates, who can be seen lamenting in several neighbourhoods of the capital. They are quoted as saying, “You finish your studies, but in your own country you can’t find work! Someone would rather go to Europe and have a better life than this.”

The blog also highlights poverty and precarious living conditions as reasons why young people flee to escape hunger and chronic poverty, in the hope of improving their standard of living.

Instability and repression

In search of stability, other young people facing insecurity, violence or political repression choose exile. The Government of Canada’s website highlights deteriorating living conditions in Chad as part of its risk assessment for Chadians returning home.

Sikata Nguemta, a Chadian activist who now lives in Canada, acknowledges and laments this large-scale emigration, describing it as involving ‘broken dreams and displaced hopes’. In her words, “When a country loses its youth, it loses its future.”

Allure of emigrant success

According to RFI, the success of those who have already emigrated also fuels the desire to take the leap, even if it means undertaking dangerous journeys through Libya, across the Mediterranean or along the routes through Mexico to the United States.

A country that no longer inspires dreams…

The Tchad Révolution Human Rights Blog lists the many reasons why young people are forced to leave Chad in search of a better future. “Chad no longer inspires dreams!” they write. Despair is spreading among much of the population. “Has the ‘cradle of humanity’ become the cradle of tragedy? A visionless and uneducated elite has driven the country to ruin. There are unpaid civil servants and students without universities, an empty public treasury, a high cost of living and widespread misery, anxiety, stress and sadness. Our country is now experiencing all possible hardships. Even the locals no longer want to stay,” the blog indicates.

Finally, the blog reports the testimony of a political exile who says: “The Déby regime has sent thousands and thousands of Chadians into exile – not just anyone: Chad’s intellectual elite are now living outside the country”.