When it comes to migration, Europe is shifting to the right: Italy is promoting the idea of outsourcing asylum procedures to third countries; the Netherlands is working on bringing in tough new immigration laws; and in Austria, the country's anti-migrant Freedom Party has now been tasked with forming a government.

With immigration also looming over Germany's upcoming elections next month — which are also expected to reflect a significant shift to the right — the debate on both legal and irregular migration has become one of the main talking points in the run-up to the vote, with misinformation and disinformation on the issue rife across social media.

Few of those narratives, however, examine the nature of migration where it begins, rarely taking the perspectives of people wishing to leave their homes into account, and how much they truly leave behind.

Hardi Yakubu from the pan-African activism movement Africans Rising says this has made migrants one of the most disenfranchised and misunderstood groups in the world.

"Politicians are making calculations about migration policy and elections based on what their message should be about [protecting] borders," he told DW, adding that this kind of campaigning merely panders to some voters — but not all.

Yakubu believes that with any election, the electorate tends to be under-informed on the nature and the root causes of migration. "There are some misconceptions about migration especially in Africa," he said. "We focus too much on the Western perspective on migration, but there's also this African perspective."

"The data shows … that the biggest chunk of people who [leave their homes in] Africa want to migrate to another part of Africa. But nobody is talking about that."

According to the UN, about 80% of African migrants remain on the continent, seeking opportunities in neighboring countries or economic powerhouses, such as the stronger economies of western Africa or the Republic of South Africa.

Yakubu said that leaving such decisive statistics out of the........

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