21/04/2015
Xenophobia-Reflections
Well, from time to time we experience events that result in our familiarisation with very strange terms. Not so long ago, we encountered words like credit crunch, depression,and locally we had cashgate.
These events, while taking nasty tolls on our economy as a country, introduced us to reality. And just when you think you have had enough, South Africans decided to remind us of another term; xenophobia.
By definition, xenophobia is the unreasoned fear of foreigners. Now, that is some interesting term because someone has said we are all foreigners somewhere. Quite a wise saying if one invest mening into it.
Look, there are a number of reasons that people, governments and experts have given for xenophobic attacks on foreigners including those in SA. One most cited factor is opportunity.
In many cases, natives who are excluded from benefiting from the economy are hoodwinked by unscrupulous politicians that the system hasn't failed them, rather the foreigners have taken the place of the natives. Considering how irrational people are, especially when faced with a mountain of issues such as poverty and hunger, one does not need spell it out for them that all they have to do to make things right is get rid of the foreigner.
Like said before, the reasons are many but opportunity can be chief. This is one side of the xenophobia situation.
The other side one should consider is the reason people leave their countries to go to foreign countries. Well, there is no need for a long explanation here. The word we are looking for is economic opportunity.
Recently,it has been reported in the news that thousands of immigrants have perished on their way to Europe. The ship they were in didn't make it. Hundreds of people are on their way to Malawi from SA. All these people risk leaving the safety of their homelands for foreign countries where the possibility of scraping a living are looking up.
Then there are questions. Governments should particulary ask themselves what their contribution to illegal and legal migrant movements is. Take for example, Malawi, I don't think as a country we are serious about whether citizens go elsewhere for greener pastures. Malawian governments don't have any strategies on job creation for example. Scores of people leaving the country leave without proper documentation. What do you expect in the end?
