Malawian Migrants Suffer Wrath of Tanzanians

Hundreds of Malawian migrants have fled to their country from Tanzania where they have become susceptible to xenophobic attacks from the natives. The attacks seem to have been sparked by the Tanzanian government’s crackdown on undocumented migrants.

Those who have returned home explain that Malawians have become targets of attacks by Tanzanians who have taken advantage of the government’s crackdown on undocumented migrants. “The locals criticise us for making life difficult for them because of our economic superiority. Since we do not bargain when buying things, prices of commodities have increased and become expensive for them,” one of the returnees said.

According to the Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN), other foreigners have not been spared either but Malawians seem to have been affected the most. This is because they are perceived to be doing well than most locals. “Malawians are usually hard working and we invest the little that we get,” one of those affected told IRIN.

The border town of Songwe has been a common entry point for those returning home from Malawi’s northern neighbour. They then connect to the northern town of Mzuzu where many are stranded because they do not have enough money to complete their journey. 

Malawian migrants from Tanzania arrive in Northern Malawi after fleeing attacks by some Tanzanians (Photo Credit: www.nyasatimes.com)

In July, Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete had ordered all illegal migrants to leave the country by 11 August 2013 or risk forceful deportation. Upon the expiry of the deadline, 15,000 Burundians and 7,000 Rwandese illegal migrants were expelled, an event that prompted relief agencies to warn of an impending humanitarian crisis. The operation, christened ‘Kimbunga,’ has also seen the arrest of over 1,000 Malawians.

Those who were apprehended were given a reprieve by Tanzanian authorities who gave them 6 months to apply for residency permits. However, the upsurge in xenophobic attacks has discouraged most of these nationals from pursuing this option.

The Malawian government has adopted a cautionary approach to the matter with Information and Civic Education Minister Moses Kunkuyu stating that the government was yet to receive official information about the situation of its nationals in Tanzania.

Malawian Vice-President Khumbo Kachali is the highest profile government official to speak on the issue. During a visit to the CCAP Synod of Livingstonia where some of the returnees are housed, he offered the sympathies of the Malawian government but did not make concrete promises of assistance. “The government acknowledges that you have suffered in Tanzania. The Head of State Joyce Banda sends her apologies and we say sorry,” he said.

Xenophobia has a long history in Africa, which dates back to the 1970s when Nigerians and Burkinabe nationals were brutally expelled from Ghana under the Aliens Compliance Order. The events were replicated in Nigeria in the 1980s when hundreds of Ghanaians in the country lost their lives in xenophobic attacks.

In Cote d’Ivoire, during the political tussle between Laurent Gbagbo and Alassane Outtara, Malians living in the country were victims of xenophobia. In 2001, African immigrants residing in Libya had to contend with volatile treatment from locals who branded them as foreigners.

Most notably, South Africa has been in the spotlight for increased incidents of xenophobic attacks, which dates as far as 1994. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), significant steps have not been made towards addressing this problem in a country, which was hosting close to 3 million foreigners in 2012. 

Black racism: Such hostility against fellow Africans have earned xenophobia the tag of being apartheid's 'sibling' (Photo Credit: www.deesserudigan.blogspot.com)

An article by the Socialist Party of Great Britain in 2001 reveals that xenophobia is tied to the economic lives of the masses. The locals usually blame the foreigners—who are usually poor—for their economic woes instead of blaming the powers that be. “The rich people in the society create divisions among the poor by laying blame on foreigners to create nationalistic feelings and divert attention from mismanagement,” the article reads in part. 

The masses (often illiterate, sick and hungry) are easily duped by these tactics and hence direct their wrath towards poor foreigners.

However, IOM describes xenophobia as a two-way phenomenon in which foreigners can also propagate it. It cites the case of South Africa where it is commonplace for foreigners to describe the natives as ‘lazy,’ ‘diseased’ or ‘uneducated’—sentiments that are sometimes expressed in the presence of South Africans.  Respecting each others’ rights and dignity will be important in co-existing peacefully.

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IOM Report Offers Insight into Plight and Delight of Migrants

A new report released on Wednesday in Kenya by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has revealed the plight of migrants in their countries of destination. According to the 2013 World Migration Report (WMR 2013), people who migrate to the south (low/middle income countries, such as, Third World Countries) feel that their lives are worse off or similar to those of their counterparts in their countries of origin.

The report draws upon the findings of the Gallup World Poll data collected from 25,000 first generation migrants and over 440,000 natives from over 150 countries between 2009 and 2011. Generally, it shows that those who migrate to the North—these are high-income countries like the United States or the European Union— think that they are faring better than their counterparts back home in terms of financial, career, subjective, social, community and physical well-being. These include South-North and North-North migrants. This is the opposite for migrants in the south.

However, the WMR 2013 reveals that overall financial situation of migrants is not as good as that of the natives of their countries of destination. According to the report, North-North migrants are less likely to be experiencing problems in meeting their basic needs unlike South-North migrants.

Speaking at the launch of the report at the Southern Sun Hotel in Nairobi, Deputy Director for Immigration Services Joseph Munyoki said that the report highlighted the need for stakeholders to rethink about migration. “This report highlights the need for a rethink of migration. It is an important resource for the government to implement the implementable within Kenya,” Munyoki said.

Mr. J.P. Munyoki from Immigration Services, shares a light moment with, IOM Regional Director, Mr. Ashraf El Nour during the official launch of the World Migration Report 2013 at the Southern Sun Hotel, Nairobi on Wednesday. 

Munyoki, who was representing the Cabinet Secretary for Interior and Coordination Joseph Ole Lenku at the function, also announced that the government was working on a national migration policy with the assistance of IOM.

At the same launch, IOM Regional Director, Mr. Ashraf El Nour announced a new initiative by the organisation aimed at migration profiling in Kenya. “We are soon rolling out a new initiative that will concern migration profiling in Kenya. Migration profiling is important because Kenya is a central point for migrants moving to the Southern region of Africa,” Mr. El Nour stated. The initiative is expected to improve the country’s capacity for evidence-based policy making.

The WMR 2013 was originally released on 13 September 2013 in Geneva, Switzerland where IOM’s headquarters are situated. It is the 7^th report in a series that began in 2007; it focuses on migrants as individuals and their well-being.

Its release comes ahead of the United Nations High Level Dialogue (HLD) on international migration and development to be held in New York from 3-4 October this year. The meeting will provide a good opportunity for the international community to align migration and development policies.

Also present at the function were the Deputy Commissioner for Labour Joseph Yilda, Labour Export Officer from the Youth Enterprise Development Fund Chrispine Wanyahoro and several diplomatic corps among others.

The full report can be downloaded here

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New BBC Investigative Report Unearths Immigrant Rights Violations in Morocco

A new investigative report by BBC’s economic editor Paul Mason has unearthed the human rights violations that illegal immigrants in Morocco undergo at the hands of security authorities. It implicates the police and criminal gangs in violations ranging from physical violence, exploitation and sexual violence.

The documentary—which can be viewed here— was aired on Wednesday 4th September and features interviews with several migrants who are stuck in Morocco after being denied entrance into Europe. One of the interviewees, a Cameroonian only identified as Amadou, narrated his ordeal after he was caught along with others trying to scale the border fence at Melilla—a Spanish border town—into Spain. “They landed with a helicopter and started hurling stones at us; beating us with batons,” he explains.

Amadou and his friends were then deported to Algeria—an act, which was in contravention of the 1951 Geneva Convention that prohibits the deportation of people to countries where there is no guarantee of their safety as well as without considering their individual cases.

Another interviewee, a Gambian called Ibrahim, recounted to Mason how the Spanish coastguard handed him over to their Moroccan counterparts who subjected him to physical assault. “The 35 of us were handed over to Moroccan cops who beat us with batons before taking us to Oujda, across the border with Algeria,” he narrates. Now stuck in Morocco, Ibrahim depends on a nearby mosque for food.

Things are looking up: Illegal immigrants resting after arriving at Spain's Canary Island of Tenerife. Many more have had their journey into Europe cut short by Moroccan and Spanish authorities (Image courtesy of www.boston.com)

The investigative trip also brought Mason into contact with Mustapha and Josui, two Senegalese bricklayers who tried to gain entry into Spain, having transited through Algeria, Mali and Niger. “We tried to jump over the border fence into Melillia but the Spanish police arrested us,” they narrated.

Having made it into Spanish territory, they expected to be allowed to claim asylum but instead, they were turned over to the Moroccan authorities. “They beat us everywhere while handcuffed behind our backs and even shot at us,” Mustapha explains.

Mason’s investigative report also lays blame on the European Union (EU), which has provided Morocco with €1.6 billion to deter illegal immigrants from its territory. The financial support is part of its ‘Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy’ that aims to improve the capacity of the North African kingdom in handling migration issues, such as, border management. Morocco is a major source of migration into Europe with the city of Tangier being a chief transit route.

A report by Médecins Sans Frontiéres (MSF), titled Violence, Vulnerability and Migration: Trapped at the Gates of Europe documents the increasing incidences of degrading treatment, violence and abuse of migrants in Morocco. The report also reveals the high levels of sexual violence against the Sub-Saharan migrant community in the country.

The Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs has, however, reiterated that it adheres to the human rights of all immigrants while implementing its readmission procedures and border management. It states that the kingdom has become a country of destination for Sub-Saharan African migrants because of its joint border control efforts with European countries.

What are your thoughts? Is Morocco right to cooperate with EU in stopping illegal immigrants from entering Europe through it?

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U.S. Hosting 30,000 illegal Kenyan Immigrants

An American immigration expert has revealed that there are an estimated 30,000 Kenyans residing illegally in the United States. In an interview with the Daily Nation, Jeffey Passel, a Senior Demographer at the Pew Research Center [O1] in Washington, admitted that the widely quoted numbers in the media were inaccurate.

Passel states that he derived this figure from statistics of visa admissions in the country as well as data from the U.S. Census Bureau. He states that “the numbers that have been quoted in the past tend to be quite inaccurate”.

On a NTV talk show—The Trend— on Sunday, former Kenyan Ambassador to the U.S. Elkannah Odembo claimed that close to 200,000 Kenyans in America did not have their papers in order.

However, Passel notes that embassies overestimate the number of their nationals in foreign lands. “Embassies tend to think that there are a lot of their nationals in America than the data indicates,” Passel observed.

Feeling at home away from home: Events like the IRB Rugby Series are favourite meeting points for Kenyans in the diaspora (Image courtesy of www.jambonewspot.com)

 Passel also stated that people arriving in the U.S. often register with their respective embassies. Even after they return home, the embassies think that they are still living in the country because these people do not inform the latter of their departure.

Kenyans living in the U.S. have recently found themselves in the spotlight due to homicidal and suicidal incidents. Two weeks ago, New Jersey police found the hanging body of Jeffrey Kilibwa at Lafayette Park in Jersey City. In the same state, another Kenyan man was sentenced to 72 years in jail after being found guilty of killing his wife and two children.

A 21-year old Kenyan student at Ivy Tech Community College also lost his life after a scuffle with several people outside a club in Indianapolis. Last week, Elisha Ogolla, a mechanical engineering student at a Texas university died from gunshot wounds obtained under mysterious circumstances.

The U.S. has been an attractive destination for Kenyans who migrate there for employment opportunities, higher education or to visit their relatives. A study by the Migration Policy Institute in 2011 revealed that Kenyans constituted the largest African diaspora in the United States. 

Within the Eastern African region, Ethiopia is the leading country of origin with close to 150, 000 of its nationals living in the U.S.

A study in 2010 titled, Homeland Citizen Perception of and Attitudes toward their Diaspora: A Study of Kenyans and Tanzanians, unearthed the perceptions and attitudes of Kenyans back home towards their counterparts in the diaspora. 

The study, spearheaded by the African Migration and Development Policy Centre (AMADPOC) Executive Director Prof. John Oucho, was carried out within Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya using the Focus Group Discussion (FGD) approach to collect information from homogenous or relatively homogenous groups.

Generally, FGD participants in the Kenyan study believed that the worsening situation in the job market was discouraging Kenyans in the diaspora from coming back home. In Tanzania, participants believed that illegal immigrants of Tanzanian nationality were afraid to return home because of the likelihood of prosecution by authorities of the countries of residence because of their illegal status—a testament that the problem of illegal immigrants is not confined to Kenya within the East African region. Such people were not expected to make any remittances to their homeland.

The report concludes by admitting that the emigration of Kenyans would continue because the country’s economy would not grow fast enough to absorb the increasing numbers of highly educated and unemployed Kenyans. Indeed, an Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) report last week revealed that Botswana, South Africa and Namibia were becoming favourite destinations for skilled Kenyans seeking job opportunities.

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SADC States (Namibia, South Africa, Botswana) Reap Big From Kenyan Brain Drain

The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) reveals that Namibia, South Africa and Botswana have been the biggest beneficiaries of brain drain in Kenya. The report, titled Migration and Human Security in the East and Southern Africa, released on 12 August 2013, blames the slumping living standards in the country for the relocation of many Kenyans to these destinations in search of greener pastures.

The IGAD report states in part, “The country is encountering a huge human resource loss, though this is a blessing for the emigrants who are grappling with unemployment”. 

IGAD’s Executive Secretary, Mahboub Maalim, admits that the region has become a transit, source and destination for immigrants. “This report will help policy makers make right decision and assist researchers with literature," he stated. 

An apt pictorial description of brain drain in Kenya due to poor living standards (Image courtesy of www.africasti.com)

The report adds that the United States, United Kingdom, Middle East and other EU countries are also favourite destinations for the emigrants. Most of them possess business, professional and technical skills except for those migrating to the Middle East.

The release of the report by IGAD is part of Migration Knowledge Series—a joint collaborative program between IGAD, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the East African Community (EAC). It aims to be a one-stop information centre for those seeking information pertaining to migration in the IGAD region and other areas.

Statistics released by the Government of Kenya in 2005 revealed that close to 1.8 million Kenyans were working abroad albeit their skills were in demand back home. The health sector was the worst hit where nurses and doctors constituted the largest proportions of professionals moving overseas for greener pastures. 

The figures, released at the Second Annual Africa’s Brain-Drain Conference by then Labour Permanent Secretary Ms. Nancy Kirui, further indicated that 30,000 Kenyans had left in search of higher education yet less than 9,000 of them had returned home. Speaking at the same conference, the then Education Permanent Secretary, Karega Mutahi conceded that Kenya’s socio-economic levels of development could not accommodate the expertise of people migrating to other countries.

Later on, a study in 2012 by Mary Goretti Wosyanju, Jonah N. Kindiki and Jeremy Walai outlined that the shortage of skilled people resulting from brain drain does not augur well for the economic growth of the country. Other consequences of brain drain include a diminished labour force, reduced overall tax revenue or low employment. 

However, the relocation of skilled Kenyans to other countries boosts the country’s local development through financial contribution and skills acquired from their stints in the diaspora. Several networks including the Kenya Diaspora Movement (KDM) and Kenyan Diaspora Alliance, which consist of Kenyans in the diaspora, have been established to assist the government in its economic recovery initiatives.

The study of Wosyanju et.al (2012) recommends that further studies are necessary to ascertain the magnitude of brain drain in Kenya. It also proposes that the government needs to improve remuneration in the public sector as well as provide room for innovativeness. A conducive environment that tolerates positive criticism, thus avoiding persecution or harassment is additionally integral to encouraging professionals to stay in the country.


What is your opinion on brain drain from African countries?

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