Prof Olawale Albert urges AU to reflect on xenophobia

Professor Isaac Olawale Albert, Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Ibadan, Nigeria has urged the African Union (AU) to reflect on the xenophobia in South Africa.

He said the AU was yet to come up with a framework for responding to the issue; adding that “the analysis of it by scholars and opinions about it in the popular media is misleadingly reductionist.”

“The situation is better understood if we replace the term ‘xenophobia’ with ‘insider Afrophobia’. By this is meant the hatred of Africans by fellow Africans. This is to be contrasted with ‘outsider Afrophobia’ which refers to the hatred of Africans by outsiders.

“Africans do not hate non-Africans but fellow outsiders,” Prof Olawale Albert stated on Tuesday in his address at the Fifth Kofi Annan/Dag Hammarskjold Annual Lecture in Accra.

The Kofi Annan / Dag Hammarskjöld Lecture, instituted in 2013, was organised jointly by the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) and the Dag Hammarskjold Foundation.

Speaking on the topic “Regional Engagement in Peace-building in Africa: Perspective and Challenges”, Prof Olawale Albert explained that evidence on this abound around Africa beyond the shop-worn discourse on the xenophobia in South Africa.

Giving an image of the Afrophobia situation on the continent, Prof Olawale Albert said that in South Sudan, economic migrants from Uganda, largely petty traders, battled xenophobia.

“They are harassed by the police, arrested and serially brutalised. They are accused of taking local jobs,” he said.

He also cited Kenyans, who faced a similar problem in South Sudan, adding “Some of them get killed”.

“On the other hand, Kenya hosts a large number of South Sudan refugees. No discrimination against them and no effort by Kenyans to abuse the South Sudanese in their midst,” he added.

He said what made the experiences of the Kenyans so unique was that Kenya served as a mediator and guarantor in the 2005 peace deals that led to the 2001 Comprehensive Peace Agreement, which paved the way for the 2011 referendum.

“However, the foregoing does not necessarily make Kenya a country of saints, when it comes to the issue of Afrophobia,” he said.

He noted that the Somali-Kenyans, constituting about six per cent of the Kenyan population, were constantly under security threats; adding that despite the collective mantra that all Kenyans were equal, the Somali Kenyans were being treated like second-class citizens since the 1960s.

He said the situation grew worse since the war against Al-Shabab, stating “those in-charge of counterterrorism operation against Al-Shabab often visited their anger on the Somali-Kenyans.

He said they were randomly arrested and detained in inhumane and degrading camps and sometimes told that they were not Kenyans.

Prof Olawale Albert mentioned that both the Liberian crisis and the Ivorian crisis in Cote d’Ivoire had to do with discrimination against “outsiders”.

He noted the Janjawid crisis in Sudan was a form of xenophobia as the Arab group and its leadership were believed to be pursuing the agenda of wiping out the African tribe in Darfur.

“We are calling attention to this problem just to show that we have more problems of peace-building in this regard than we seem ready to acknowledge.

“African leaders must find a good solution to the problem of insider Afrophobia to get the rest of the world to treat Africans well outside the continent,” he added.

He said Africans could not hate themselves and expect the rest of the world to love and respect them.

He said those who engaged in either xenophobia or Afrophobia must be condemned; declaring that “If Africa must integrate freedom of the African peoples must be guaranteed”.

Prof Olawale Albert also paid tribute to Mr Kofi Annan, the seventh UN Secretary-General and Mr Dag Hammarskjold, the second UN Secretary-General, saying both deserved to be celebrated as global icons for peace.

Air-Vice Marshal Griffiths Santrofi Evans, the KAIPTC Commandant, said the annual lecture was used to honour both Secretaries-General for their unflinching support to ensuring global justice, peace and respect for human rights.

Mr Henrik Hammargren, the Executive Director, Dag Hammarskjold Foundation, also paid tribute to Mr Kofi Annan and Mr Dag Hammarskjold for their roles in promoting global peace and security.

Dr Anne Heather Cameron, the Canadian High Commissioner to Ghana, who chaired the function, hailed Africa for making great progress in the area of peace and security.

Source: GNA

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