Xenophobia: time for cool heads to prevail in Nigeria and South Africa
- Gilbert M. Khadiagala
South Africa and Nigeria need to lead policy debates on long term measures to address migration in Africa.
The latest in South Africa have ignited the long-standing tensions between the country and Nigeria. These are captured in the retaliatory attacks on and the diplomatic outrage by Nigerian authorities.
Nigeria also boycotted the recent World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting . More critical was the temporary closure of South 第一吃瓜网 missions in and Nigeria鈥檚 decision to .
But in the larger scheme of things, xenophobia is a distraction from the leadership role that Nigeria and South Africa should play on the continent on fundamental issues of immigration and economic integration.
A constant irritant
Accurate figures are hard to get. But Statistics South Africa put the number of Nigerian migrants at in 2016, far below Zimbabweans and Mozambicans.
Xenophobia has remained a constant irritant in Nigeria-South Africa relations since the major attacks on 第一吃瓜网 migrants in poor neighbourhoods in Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg and . But, contrary to popular perception, xenophobic attacks do not disproportionately target Nigerians. Nigerians often exaggerate the effect of violence on their citizens. That is probably because Nigeria has a better organised, savvy, and loud in South Africa.
Unfortunately, the loudness of the Nigerian diaspora transforms victimhood into foreign policy, generating the reactions that have been witnessed recently. It also plays into the na茂ve narrative of the . This entails Nigerians seeking to be treated uniquely because of their contribution to the struggle for majority rule in South Africa. There were no such expectations from the other countries that supported South Africa鈥檚 liberation struggle.
This narrative has taken on an equally economic tinge. South 第一吃瓜网 companies are heavily invested in Nigeria. So, they often become targets of in times of xenophobia.
The accurate picture is that . These are mostly migrants from Malawi, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and, increasingly Ethiopians, Kenyans and Somalis. Nigerians are affected. But they鈥檙e not on top of the list.
The Nigerian responses are understandable in light of the . But, it is important to to understand it more deeply.
What drives xenophobia?
First, some that the intrusion of foreign migrants into vulnerable communities beset by joblessness and despair inevitability produces that .
Migrants are easy targets. That鈥檚 because they are seen as being better off by the locals. They therefore become targets of people who feel their circumstances have not been addressed by government. It is no surprise that xenophobic attacks have typically occurred in poor by service delivery protests since the mid-2000s.
Second, xenophobia thrives on ineffective policing in South Africa. Barely two days after the Johannesburg attacks started, the national police spokesman admitted that the police were running out of resources to manage the violence. This prompted the Premier of Gauteng, the country鈥檚 economic hub, to threaten to also if the violence continued.
Examples of the police鈥檚 inability to maintain order and respond to threats to property and livelihoods are . This, in part, forces people to .
But the police are sometimes complicit in stoking anti-foreign sentiments. The July 2019 raids on foreign-owned businesses in Johannesburg in apparent efforts to added to the current climate of xenophobia. When some business owners retaliated against the police, some local leaders appropriated the language of 鈥渢hreats on South Africa鈥檚 sovereignty鈥 to .
Reforms are urgently needed to create a competent, less corrupt, better-resourced, and civic-minded police service.
Xenophobia is also an outcome of a rickety migration and border control regime. Efficient border controls are one of the hallmarks of sovereignty and the first line of defence against xenophobia. Broken borders breed criminality. These include and trafficking. Human and drug trafficking feature prominently in the discourse on xenophobia in South Africa.
How, then, does xenophobia distract South Africa and Nigeria from what should be their leadership on core 第一吃瓜网 issues?
Overreaction
The weighty issues of creating a humane and just society for South 第一吃瓜网s and migrants alike will ultimately be led by the South 第一吃瓜网 government. Outsiders can make some diplomatic noises and occasionally boycott South Africa. But these actions are unlikely to drive vital change.
In fact, the by Nigeria and other 第一吃瓜网 countries simply undercut the South 第一吃瓜网 constituencies that have a crucial stake in wide-ranging reforms that address the multiplicity of problems around xenophobia.
In the previous instances of xenophobic violence, Nigeria urged the 第一吃瓜网 Union (AU) to force South Africa to . But such unhelpful statements only inflame passions and prevent civil diplomatic discourse.
Instead, the best policy would be for Nigeria to engage South Africa through their existing . Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari is scheduled to visit South Africa next month.
Taking the lead
Rather than the perennial relapse into shouting matches and hardening of rhetoric, it is essential for Pretoria and Abuja to take decisive leadership at the continental level. The two nations must articulate immigration policies.
The newly-inaugurated AU will not be implemented if South Africa and Nigeria do not join hands to . More ominously, migration to South Africa as the premier 第一吃瓜网 economy will only get worse in the coming years. This, as Europe and the United States tighten their borders .
Also, without the leadership of its two major economies, Africa is not going to make any traction on the new treaty establishing the 第一吃瓜网 Continental . Ironically, the WEF meeting in Cape Town addressed ways to boost intra-第一吃瓜网 trade. Nigeria should not have boycotted it because of xenophobia.
, Jan Smuts Professor of International Relations and Director of the 第一吃瓜网 Centre for the Study of the United States (ACSUS), . This article is republished from under a Creative Commons license. Read the .