Seeking refuge

Editorial Comment
WE ALL at some stage of our lives have had to accommodate a relative or a friend in our homes.

WE ALL at some stage of our lives have had to accommodate a relative or a friend in our homes.

For some it was for a short sojourn and their subsequent departure might have left you with feelings of melancholy. However, for the most part many of our guests overstay their welcome and abuse our generosity and profound hospitality. Most of the goodbyes are filled with acrimony.

The majority are kicked out under unsavoury circumstances and ultimately relationships have irreversibly broken down.

What ensues is being bad-mouthed in various quarters about your stinginess and tyranny. Very few leave on good terms and can be counted on to still call in and maintain a measure of civility and goodwill long after their departure.

We all agree that taking someone under our wing is never an easy feat.

So why do we expect countries to do it with more ease and goodwill than us? We forget that some countries have had their arms and legs open for years and are now tired from receiving those seeking refuge.

We are barely half way through January and already our newest African democracy, South Sudan is smouldering in flames.

It is barely three years old. South Sudan was born from the ashes of the protracted second civil war between the North and South that spanned the period between 1983 and 2005. One would think after giving the predominantly Christian South the much-vaunted independence from the Arab-Muslim North there would be stability.

This has, however, proved to be elusive. It would appear that the country turned on itself on the back of fighting along ethnic lines of the Dinka and Nuer tribes. I don’t know what is supposed to happen next. Split the country further along tribal lines?

The civil war in Sudan has undoubtedly precipitated the mass exodus of Sudanese nationals into other countries. Civil unrest also pervades Eritrea. According to the UN Refugee Agency over 305 000 people fled Eritrea last year.

It is estimated that on average 2 500 people leave the country every month. This is also true for Central African Republic, Somalia and all those countries with internal conflict.

However, what this has ultimately done is create millions of refugees and displaced people on the continent. A refugee is defined as a person who is living outside their country of origin or residence because they have reason to fear for their life stemming from political, racial, religious and social persecution.

In some instances they may be seeking refuge or asylum from an upheaval caused by war or economic instability. However, most refugees are not being well received on the doors they knock on. The Israeli situation comes to mind where authorities have opened a centre in the desert with a capacity to house over 9 000 immigrants.

Immigrants could be held there indefinitely until their repatriation to their home countries. For me this centre evokes rather vivid images of the holocaust during Hitler’s time.

You would think the Jewish people would be more sympathetic to the cause of the Eritreans, Somalians and Sudanese.

Despite the repeated assertions that many of these African immigrants have fled persecution, forced military conscription, civil war and strife, detention in their own countries, this has been dismissed by the Israeli authorities.

The Israeli prime minister has repeatedly asserted that the influxes of these “infiltrators” are threatening the Jewish character of the land. Secondly Israeli feels that these so-called refugees have passed through the door of at least one other country before landing on their doorstep.

The argument being if there were really seeking refuge they would have settled there instead of going the extra mile and travelling to land in Israel.

Lastly the Israeli government felt it had done its share to harbour migrants and didn’t feel the obligation to break their backs to continue accommodating more. That sentiment is not only harboured by Israel, but many other countries that have offered refuge.

South Africa feels it has been stretched in terms of housing provision, public services and economic opportunities in trying to accommodate Africans namely Nigerians and Zimbabweans. Over the years the reception provided has gone from chilly to icy.

Ask anyone in the Diaspora be it America, Australia, Canada, United Kingdom and they will tell you things are not the same anymore.

So could it be that we have overstayed our welcome? Maybe we have become those unruly house guests that have failed to assimilate into the family, abuse facilities, break laws and instigate crimes.

Are we arrogant and self superior that we have forgotten that we were offered a roof under our heads when times were tough?

Maybe before we start chastising our hosts, a little self introspection might be required.

Sukoluhle Nyathi is the author of the novel The Polygamist. You can follow her on Twitter@SueNyathi