About Illegal Humans and African Countries

By Takudzwa Mazwienduna

The majority of African countries are lad with political, economic and social problems. While these problems rose out of the colonial era, they intensified after the countries got their sovereignty. The borders drawn during the infamous Berlin conference of 1888 by imperialists powers have been maintained and so have been most of the systems that were established during the colonial era. The conference did not consider the arrangement that had worked for Africa and they did not foresee the lack of national pride or patriotism that could arise out of imposing a nation on different tribes. This has caused political chaos for decades with genocide and tribal politics reinforcing a brutal system of patronage. African leaders have become accustomed to a culture of looting, benefiting only their relatives and tribesmen. The majority of Africans who do not benefit from this widespread patronage migrate to more liberal, economically prosperous African countries like South Africa or Botswana but the immigration laws are still based on these colonial borders. While measures have been put to regulate migration along these colonial borders, a great number of African immigrants are adversely affected by the arrangement up to this day.

The concept of an illegal human being is repelling, especially when you say it out loud. This is the status of millions of African immigrants living in South Africa, Botswana, Namibia or any other African country that is better off than average. A very significant population of Zimbabweans, Mozambicans, Malawians and Nigerians move to South Africa in their thousands every year. They run away from the police and are not liable to South African citizen rights when their two-week visa is done. They are charged a fine when found which is very inconvenient for people who are escaping a politically and economically down-trodden country. This makes them a very vulnerable demographic since a lot of people take advantage of illegal immigrants. These “illegal” humans fail to secure employment or get a decent means of surviving. A number of South Africans are taking advantage of the situation already. Most of these illegal immigrants get employed by people who pay them way below minimum wage for twice the work and abused simply because they cannot report the injustices they face without getting deported or arrested. Their children become child workers on farms and in shops, working for peanuts in unfavourable conditions.

African migrants in South Africa are at high risk of xenophobic attacks from local residents who believe that they come with crime, disease and compete for their employment opportunities. There have been violent attacks on African foreign nationals in recent years. A number of Nigerians have been burnt alive by angry mobs who believe being Non-South African makes them different. Xenophobia adds to the long list of problems colonial borders have caused for Africans, piling up on genocides, civil wars, tribalism and patronage.

The issue of colonial borders has been discussed a couple of times at the African Union. Some concerns were raised about how doing away with these borders threatens sovereignty. The issue has not made it into mainstream media just like many other African problems. Challenges from the 1888 Berlin Conference that still have a negative impact on Africans should seriously be reviewed. While immigration laws are similar across the world, any clause that takes away people’s rights and labels humans as illegal is repressive legislation.