Almost 80% of young San Tomeans want to leave the country 

About 80% of young San Tomeans want to leave the country for better living conditions, namely employment, and health.

Many have lost hope in the archipelago’s development, indicated a study by the National Youth Council of São Tomé.

“The study proved that 78% of young people want to migrate.”

“When we see a percentage of young people who think about leaving the country, as a youth platform, that worries us and worries us immensely,” the secretary general of the National Youth Council (CNJ) of São Tomé and Príncipe, Laudino Tavares, told Lusa.

According to him, the respondents indicated reasons for wanting to emigrate, the need to find better living conditions, issues related to health, and others “will venture for lack of employment opportunities” in São Tomé and Príncipe.

“A young man that I was inquiring about at the time told me that he prefers to go to live under the bridge. He won’t stay in São Tomé. […]”

“Young people are willing to leave the country; it doesn’t matter what to do abroad. The important thing is to leave, ” the youth leader reported.

The study was conducted in July of last year, with support from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), when São Tomé and Príncipe were preparing for the legislative, municipal, and regional elections to be held on November 25.

According to Laudino Tavares, the document was not received by the parties competing in the legislative elections nor by the Government of the time led by former Prime Minister Jorge Bom Jesus.

“We made a point of sending the survey result to all political parties, and we deposited it in the headquarters of the political parties so that they could include these concerns in their electoral manifestos, but unfortunately, this did not happen”, he lamented.

After the elections, the Government of São Tomé became led by Prime Minister Patrice Trovoada, leader of the Independent Democratic Action (ADI), which won the legislative elections with an absolute majority of 30 representatives.

The secretary general of the CNJ believes that, despite the alternation, youth immigration has not stopped growing and “has been the ‘Achilles heel’ in recent months.

“Undoubtedly this tends to get worse because I talk to young people daily and realize that no one wants to stay in the country.”

“We already know the causes of emigration, so it is necessary to create conditions so young people don’t feel this need to emigrate,” stressed Laudino Tavares.

“Many people believe that there is no sign of creating conditions for young people to stay in the country,” he added.

The study also concluded that “the main causes for the non-participation of young people in electoral voting are political corruption and the absence of voter’s cards.

Still, the CNJ secretary-general stressed that the survey data proved that many young people vote and have voted, especially in the 2021 presidential elections.

“We used to think that the abstention rate in São Tomé and Príncipe was a problem that lived within the youth, but the survey we conducted proves otherwise.”

“According to the survey results, young Saotomeans participate in the elections because we concluded that out of every ten young people, eight participated in the 2021 presidential election,” said Laudino Tavares.

However, it was concluded that “the young people classify the politics in São Tomé and Príncipe as terrible” and “they say that there is a lot of corruption”.

“Regarding the survey results, young people have no hope for the country’s development.”

“This is worrying, and the leaders and the governments must start thinking seriously about this to give this hope back to the youth because, without hope, they are dead and adrift, ready to go wherever the wind blows them”, said the secretary general of the CNJ.

The CNJ study was delivered to the new Minister of Youth and Sports, Eurídice Medeiros, and has been analyzed at the Government level.

During the campaign to consult the population to prepare the State Budget, Prime Minister Patrice Trovoada admitted the executive’s concern with the wave of young emigration.

“If the majority of the population is young, and 78% of that majority wants to leave the country, then the country also has no future. […]”

“We cannot prevent young people from leaving, but we are aware that if we don’t do something for young people to find their future here, tomorrow, when we will need a young person to work, we will not have young people to work”, said Patrice Trovoada during a talk with popular in the Cantagalo district.

The head of São Tomé’s Government promised to survey to hear young people’s ideas to “define a policy that can solve the problem.”

On Friday, São Tomé’s Health Minister, Celsio Junqueira, told Lusa that the health system in São Tomé and Príncipe is short of professionals due to increased emigration of staff to Portugal since visa facilitation under the mobility agreement of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP).

“Since Portugal made it easy to enter, many health professionals have left, so some services began to be in question, no longer have the minimum necessary to work and ensure quality service,” Celsio Junqueira told Lusa.

Facing the “wave of emigration”, the Minister of Health, Labor, and Social Affairs was authorized by the Government to hire retired professionals to compensate for the exit of cadres.

With information from Lusa