Brain drain for a better future

A vast majority of youth in 10 countries of the world, including India, want to emigrate and secure a better future. A survey has found that the teenagers also believe that there should be no migration controls.

A vast majority of youth in 10 countries of the world, including India, want to emigrate and secure a better future.

They also believe that there should be no migration controls, a survey of teenagers in the age-group of 15 to 17 years has found. One in seven said they would risk their lives to reach another country, according to the survey conducted as part of the BBC's Generation Next series.

3,000 teenagers in 10 cities were covered by the survey. Four out of five youngsters felt people should be able to live in any country they choose while two-thirds said they would emigrate to secure a better future.

The young people were quizzed on a range of contemporary political issues. The key areas of questioning were immigration, climate change, terrorism and war, crime, religion, education, global population and honesty.

The 10 cities involved in the poll were New York, Moscow, London, Delhi, Nairobi, Cairo, Lagos, Rio de Janeiro, Baghdad and Jakarta. The proportion of respondents that would emigrate for a better future was the highest in Nairobi and Delhi (81 per cent each).

Despite the violence, 50 per cent of the youth in Baghdad said they would not emigrate — the biggest negative response of all 10 cities. The results show the desire of the young people to be highly mobile, the survey said.

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