Yannick Nizhanga, 24, a student from Burundi, has been on life support for almost a year after being brutally attacked by some youths in Jalandhar, India
Africans living outside the continent have not done a good job of revealing the realities of life overseas, and about the general climate in which they live, which is one the reasons friends and family members back in the motherland get a one-sided idea about what it is like to live abroad.
Africans living outside the continent have not done a good job of revealing the realities of life overseas, and about the general climate in which they live, which is one the reasons friends and family members back in the motherland get a one-sided idea about what it is like to live abroad.
The other reason is the representation of life outside Africa as depicted by the media (news, magazines, TV and film). Thus Africans living on the continent get fed a steady diet of falsehoods such as: it is better to start up a career overseas as opposed to striving to build one in Africa; earning your degree abroad is easier and the environment is comfortable; life is easy, and money easy to come by; it is always safer for Africans abroad than it is at home; by and large, non-Africans have the interests of Africans at heart.
Granted, there are Africans who, by any measure of success, have done well for themselves abroad, but they are by far outnumbered by the many who struggle or, like most people these days, just about manage to get by. The degree-holding brother or sister over in London might really be the rising star of their department in such and such investment bank, or they could, in fact, be struggling to make ends meet from their wages as an admin assistant because their degree from their country of origin was deemed worthless abroad, and the one they earned abroad still didn't help them find a job worthy of their ambitions and intellect. I find the misinformation troubling because it creates some tension between Africans abroad and those back home, and by failing to emphasize or even mention the challenges of making a living abroad, those who live in Africa nurture unrealistic hopes and expectations of friends and family members abroad (so Africans abroad aren’t doing themselves any favours by pretending everything is just wonderful abroad), and compare their own lives unfavourably with those of people they know abroad.
I have met several Africans living in the United States who quit school in order to work menial jobs so that they could send money and gifts – iPhones, computers, Louis Vuitton bags, bleaching creams, and so forth – to their overly demanding family members (which is different from wiring money to help a friend or relative in a tight spot, or one who’s starting a business. Nothing wrong with gifts, but it is a problem when that becomes the only reason friends and family members back home are glad you’re abroad). Some abandon their dreams altogether, and, it must be said, some get lured by the prospect of quick and easy money through criminal activity, in order to feed their relatives’ expensive taste for material things. In the last 10 years, I have talked to many Africans abroad about this, and most have agonized over the constant requests that they get from their families back home. What sometimes happens is that these relatives become less supportive of their nephew’s/niece’s/brother’s/sister’s long-term goals and more excited about receiving regular gifts and money.
Africans at home who want a “fuller picture” of life abroad tend to turn solely to the websites of media outlets like the BBC, VOA and CNN, but these outlets tend to favour inviting, peaceful, all-inclusive images of non-African countries, and, though they’re not as bad as they use to be, focus much less on positive empowering success stories on the African continent. So it is not altogether surprising that many Africans who’ve never lived elsewhere but Africa crave fantasy-lives in foreign countries.
I think it’s time we all got real. When African abroad start being honest about the realities of life in the diaspora, their friends and relatives back home will probably stop expecting and demanding so much, and stop thinking their only hope for a reasonably good life lies abroad.
But African governments have a major role to play, too. No African government should start feeling proud of itself for posting world-beating growth rates if that achievement isn’t matched by government-created opportunities for Africans at home and in the diaspora. Because while we have all read stories of returnee diasporans, the rate of return is still a trickle and needs to become a flood. And that’s not going to happen if those abroad don’t see their government providing incentives for them to return, supporting innovation, improving infrastructure, reducing bureaucracy, and doing more to make our cities and day-to-day life generally safer (and, on the subject of safety, a good place to start would be with the police; when people are as worried about the police as they are about thieves, you have a problem). But the incentives, support for innovation, improvement to infrastructure, etc. are also necessary to encourage potential emigrants (nurses, doctors, teachers, engineers, etc.) to remain at home. In the 60s, most Africans who left to study abroad did so with the intention of returning once they were done, and most did. They returned because there was post-independence hope in the air, but also because many African governments at the time articulated a vision based around things like pan-Africanism, political and economic independence, freedom, and long-term nation building. That sort of vision is missing from all the projections about growth rates and talk of investment opportunities. Without a vision, there's no story or narrative to help everyone understand where a country is headed and why it would be worthwhile to come back home, or to not leave in the first place.
Perhaps our various governments are right now working on their 30-year vision. I hope so, anyway. In the meantime, we, as individuals, would be doing ourselves a huge favour if we were just a tad more honest about what it's like to live abroad, so in the spirit of balance and getting real, here are some incidents that might not have caught the attention of those who believe all their problems will be over once they leave their country in Africa:
1. Israelis attack African refugees and stage anti-African protests, calling Africans a cancer in their country and saying they will do anything in their power to deport them. African-owned businesses were destroyed and looted. There have also been reports of Ethiopian women in Israel being sterilized.
2. Yannick Nizhanga, a 24-year-old chemical engineering student was beaten into a coma in India last April 21 and left for dead. Meanwhile, the police took no action for two months because the assailants came from powerful families.
3. Women whose rights of residence are attached to their role as domestic workers are at risk of serious abuse. One domestic worker in the United Arab Emirates was beaten for years, burned and forced by her boss to have sex with another maid while the boss filmed the act.
4. A couple from Rwanda, both trained doctors, are stranded in rural Russia and became peasant farmers when their country collapsed into civil war. In the following clip, they tell their story of depression, racism, disappointments and recovery.
5. African students share their experience of racism in Russia.
6. Being a sports star offers no immunity from abuse. Google “African footballers” and “racist abuse”, and you will start to understand what African footballers playing in Europe have to put up with. Read, for example, the story of Nigerian-born Chelsea midfielder John Mikel Obi. You expect it from Millwall fans, but Chelsea?
7. Nigerian women, lured by the promise of a better life in Europe, end up being lured into prostitution in Italy and find themselves trapped between the Italian and Nigerian mafia.
8. You will probably have seen or read a report about the lives of Africans in China, but in case you haven’t, here’s a clip of African immigrants to china talking about their experiences.
9. Somalis refugees who settled in Maine, USA, encouraged to “leave their culture at the door”.
10. We’ve wrote about the TV series Surprising Europe when it was first broadcast on Al Jazeera, but in case you missed it, here’s an episode. The series takes a balanced look at the reality of life in Europe for Africans. You get stories of those who are doing well, but also of those who end up stranded with no work, no papers, in detention camps, poverty stricken, etc. but are afraid to return home because of the pressure from dependent family members back home, or because they don’t want to lose face by returning without having “made it.”
11. Racism against people of African descent in Ecuador, 92% of whom didn’t have access to basic services at the time of shooting the following clip:
12. A story about the formation and persistence of white-only towns in America.
13. In Brazil racism against people of African descent is deeply rooted in the country’s history. Sociologist and UNICEF manager Helena Oliveira Silva talks in an interview about the effect of structural racism on the lives of people of African descent in Brazil.
These, of course, are isolated incidents, and most Africans abroad aren’t being beaten up on a daily basis. But I included these examples to show some of the things Africans abroad have to put up with and try to avoid as they go about their business.
There is no land of milk and honey for Africans abroad, and in my experience, for every “successful” African abroad, there are thousands just keeping their heads down and trying to get by from one month to the next, and, having spoken to many over the years, more than a few would love to be back home in Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda, etc. All they need is for “home” to become a little safer, and for opportunities to at home to become a bit more plentiful. Unfortunately, this isn't usually something they freely admit to friends and relatives back home.
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Yoknyam is a scholar who also blogs on WEHNAM, a blog dealing with matters relating to African women in rural areas and in the diaspora.
Granted, there are Africans who, by any measure of success, have done well for themselves abroad, but they are by far outnumbered by the many who struggle or, like most people these days, just about manage to get by. The degree-holding brother or sister over in London might really be the rising star of their department in such and such investment bank, or they could, in fact, be struggling to make ends meet from their wages as an admin assistant because their degree from their country of origin was deemed worthless abroad, and the one they earned abroad still didn't help them find a job worthy of their ambitions and intellect. I find the misinformation troubling because it creates some tension between Africans abroad and those back home, and by failing to emphasize or even mention the challenges of making a living abroad, those who live in Africa nurture unrealistic hopes and expectations of friends and family members abroad (so Africans abroad aren’t doing themselves any favours by pretending everything is just wonderful abroad), and compare their own lives unfavourably with those of people they know abroad.
I have met several Africans living in the United States who quit school in order to work menial jobs so that they could send money and gifts – iPhones, computers, Louis Vuitton bags, bleaching creams, and so forth – to their overly demanding family members (which is different from wiring money to help a friend or relative in a tight spot, or one who’s starting a business. Nothing wrong with gifts, but it is a problem when that becomes the only reason friends and family members back home are glad you’re abroad). Some abandon their dreams altogether, and, it must be said, some get lured by the prospect of quick and easy money through criminal activity, in order to feed their relatives’ expensive taste for material things. In the last 10 years, I have talked to many Africans abroad about this, and most have agonized over the constant requests that they get from their families back home. What sometimes happens is that these relatives become less supportive of their nephew’s/niece’s/brother’s/sister’s long-term goals and more excited about receiving regular gifts and money.
Africans at home who want a “fuller picture” of life abroad tend to turn solely to the websites of media outlets like the BBC, VOA and CNN, but these outlets tend to favour inviting, peaceful, all-inclusive images of non-African countries, and, though they’re not as bad as they use to be, focus much less on positive empowering success stories on the African continent. So it is not altogether surprising that many Africans who’ve never lived elsewhere but Africa crave fantasy-lives in foreign countries.
I think it’s time we all got real. When African abroad start being honest about the realities of life in the diaspora, their friends and relatives back home will probably stop expecting and demanding so much, and stop thinking their only hope for a reasonably good life lies abroad.
But African governments have a major role to play, too. No African government should start feeling proud of itself for posting world-beating growth rates if that achievement isn’t matched by government-created opportunities for Africans at home and in the diaspora. Because while we have all read stories of returnee diasporans, the rate of return is still a trickle and needs to become a flood. And that’s not going to happen if those abroad don’t see their government providing incentives for them to return, supporting innovation, improving infrastructure, reducing bureaucracy, and doing more to make our cities and day-to-day life generally safer (and, on the subject of safety, a good place to start would be with the police; when people are as worried about the police as they are about thieves, you have a problem). But the incentives, support for innovation, improvement to infrastructure, etc. are also necessary to encourage potential emigrants (nurses, doctors, teachers, engineers, etc.) to remain at home. In the 60s, most Africans who left to study abroad did so with the intention of returning once they were done, and most did. They returned because there was post-independence hope in the air, but also because many African governments at the time articulated a vision based around things like pan-Africanism, political and economic independence, freedom, and long-term nation building. That sort of vision is missing from all the projections about growth rates and talk of investment opportunities. Without a vision, there's no story or narrative to help everyone understand where a country is headed and why it would be worthwhile to come back home, or to not leave in the first place.
Perhaps our various governments are right now working on their 30-year vision. I hope so, anyway. In the meantime, we, as individuals, would be doing ourselves a huge favour if we were just a tad more honest about what it's like to live abroad, so in the spirit of balance and getting real, here are some incidents that might not have caught the attention of those who believe all their problems will be over once they leave their country in Africa:
1. Israelis attack African refugees and stage anti-African protests, calling Africans a cancer in their country and saying they will do anything in their power to deport them. African-owned businesses were destroyed and looted. There have also been reports of Ethiopian women in Israel being sterilized.
2. Yannick Nizhanga, a 24-year-old chemical engineering student was beaten into a coma in India last April 21 and left for dead. Meanwhile, the police took no action for two months because the assailants came from powerful families.
3. Women whose rights of residence are attached to their role as domestic workers are at risk of serious abuse. One domestic worker in the United Arab Emirates was beaten for years, burned and forced by her boss to have sex with another maid while the boss filmed the act.
4. A couple from Rwanda, both trained doctors, are stranded in rural Russia and became peasant farmers when their country collapsed into civil war. In the following clip, they tell their story of depression, racism, disappointments and recovery.
5. African students share their experience of racism in Russia.
6. Being a sports star offers no immunity from abuse. Google “African footballers” and “racist abuse”, and you will start to understand what African footballers playing in Europe have to put up with. Read, for example, the story of Nigerian-born Chelsea midfielder John Mikel Obi. You expect it from Millwall fans, but Chelsea?
7. Nigerian women, lured by the promise of a better life in Europe, end up being lured into prostitution in Italy and find themselves trapped between the Italian and Nigerian mafia.
8. You will probably have seen or read a report about the lives of Africans in China, but in case you haven’t, here’s a clip of African immigrants to china talking about their experiences.
9. Somalis refugees who settled in Maine, USA, encouraged to “leave their culture at the door”.
10. We’ve wrote about the TV series Surprising Europe when it was first broadcast on Al Jazeera, but in case you missed it, here’s an episode. The series takes a balanced look at the reality of life in Europe for Africans. You get stories of those who are doing well, but also of those who end up stranded with no work, no papers, in detention camps, poverty stricken, etc. but are afraid to return home because of the pressure from dependent family members back home, or because they don’t want to lose face by returning without having “made it.”
11. Racism against people of African descent in Ecuador, 92% of whom didn’t have access to basic services at the time of shooting the following clip:
12. A story about the formation and persistence of white-only towns in America.
13. In Brazil racism against people of African descent is deeply rooted in the country’s history. Sociologist and UNICEF manager Helena Oliveira Silva talks in an interview about the effect of structural racism on the lives of people of African descent in Brazil.
These, of course, are isolated incidents, and most Africans abroad aren’t being beaten up on a daily basis. But I included these examples to show some of the things Africans abroad have to put up with and try to avoid as they go about their business.
There is no land of milk and honey for Africans abroad, and in my experience, for every “successful” African abroad, there are thousands just keeping their heads down and trying to get by from one month to the next, and, having spoken to many over the years, more than a few would love to be back home in Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda, etc. All they need is for “home” to become a little safer, and for opportunities to at home to become a bit more plentiful. Unfortunately, this isn't usually something they freely admit to friends and relatives back home.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yoknyam is a scholar who also blogs on WEHNAM, a blog dealing with matters relating to African women in rural areas and in the diaspora.
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