Risking it to Libya : Irregular Migration from the Brong Ahafo Region of Ghana to Libya

Abstract: This thesis explores the phenomenon of irregular migration from the Brong Ahafo region of Ghana to Libya. It draws on migration theories to explain the underlying drivers of the phenomenon in the region. Many studies on irregular migration in Sub-Saharan Africa have predominantly attributed it to the push/pull theory. The objective here is to go beyond this stereotypical way of theorizing irregular migration in Sub-Saharan Africa by drawing on a wide range of migration theories to explain the underlying drivers of irregular migration from the Brong Ahafo region of Ghana to Libya. The evidence suggests that the drivers of irregular migration in the area under study are complex and nested in a broad-spectrum of social, cultural, moral, economic, historical, etc. context. Therefore, a single theory is inadequate to present a comprehensive explanation for the underlying drivers of the subject. It is revealed that there is the emergence of contemporary competing factors such as sports betting and internet fraud with some of the root causes of the phenomenon in the region. Hence, some of the root causes are weakened by these contemporary factors.