FORCED DISPLACEMENTS
Africa with a
landmass of 30m Km2, twice the size of Europe, and with a population
of 1.2billion inhabitants, is also the continent most afflicted with preventable
incidences of violence, and natural disasters that cause displacements. The consequences
of violence alone, on displacement and human life are remarkable. The 2017 Global
Report on Internal Displacement indicates that of the 6.9million internal
displacements caused by conflict worldwide in 2016, 2.6 million people were
displaced in Sub-Sahara Africa.
Uganda recently
enjoyed a spotlight over its unique refugee integration policy by the UN
Secretary General, Mr. António Guterres. While Uganda may have the best
refugee integration policies, the role of Uganda in causing mass displacement
in the region was unfortunately understated.
The UN deserves
apprehension over its traditional reactionary responses to situations of
conflict and violence in Africa. Uganda, under the 31 years of dictator
Museveni has involved itself in unacceptable incidences of violence, leading to
mass displacements and suffering- in DR Congo, Rwanda, Southern Sudan and Northern
Uganda. In all these instances, the UN stood by and watched, while intellectualising
whether genocide were occurring or not.
The UN seems
specialised to be present after the facts of conflicts and disasters. One wonders,
which other world organization is there to help the wretched of this world averting
conflicts and preventing the destruction of human kind and human environments.
The sight of displaced
African people and malnourished children with flies on their faces in this
twenty-second century is embarrassing. African people deserve better!
Everyday news
from Africa is that of tragedy, nothing novel about ground breaking discoveries,
world class acts of human excellence or a major scientific breakthrough by an
African. Since independence, Africa’s narratives stalled – poverty, war,
disease, disaster, dictatorship, malnutrition, high child-maternal death, unemployment,
human rights violation, etc. The stories are so usual that people from western hemisphere
prefer tourism of Gorillas than waste time on African people.
The UN
praises these dictators, in the process it covertly abets the proliferation of
the continent with arms, allows predatory trade agreements, and trades in stolen
African resources while legitimate African products are excluded from the lucrative
global markets. What really is in the UN for the ordinary African people other
than relief aid?
The real traitors
of Africa are the greedy and unconscionable African leaders who come to power
as “liberators” and turn to conspire against the African people as predators.
There is no
justification for a leader to stay in power for three decades. Patterns have emerged
where such leaders have abandoned the causes of their African people. Many stay
in power as captives of foreign interests to exploit Africa by dehumanising
Africans.
The longer
they stay in power, the more foreign debts accumulate, poverty and
disempowerment are entrenched, and human rights violation becomes the mainstay
of their hold on power.
The loot exacted
on the Gambia by its former deranged despot, Jammeh is one such evidence.
However, the wealth of African leaders accumulated at home and those stashed
abroad, shows that contemporary African leaders are worse than former colonial administrators.
At least, the colonial administrators were clear with their intention to
appropriate African resources to feed European civilization. They never
pretended to liberate Africa for Africa.
Most
disturbing is the effect of displacement in Africa on its economic progress. Displacement
immobilizes, confines and destroys labour. Displacement denies Africa conditions for its labor
to harness its resources and feed its children. The armed conflict dehumanises
and further alienates Africans from their land and natural resources. Transient
state of displacement furthers the vulnerability of children women and persons
with disability to diseases and death. Under the current breed of African
leaders, living conditions are made impossible such that resourced, educated,
skilled and strong Africans must flee the continent to benefit other
continents.
END
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