This is an update from the so-called Rainbow Nation of South Africa. You know the country that got rid of Apartheid, ushered in a new (Black) government and opened wide its borders. After poor black South Africans attacked black immigrants in rioting that spread throughout the country last May, everyone is scratching their heads (bottoms too?) and blaming everything on xenophobia (fear and hatred of strangers).
Here is an article from a week or so ago about a conference of “experts” on refugees and immigration that called for NOT tightening South Africa’s borders.
Experts on refugees and resettlement have warned the government against tightening the country’s borders or making immigration policy restrictive, as this will encourage more xenophobic attacks.
Dr Loren Landau, director of the Forced Migration Studies Programme at The University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) urged the government to transform its migration policy, warning that “making the policy more restrictive would create the perception that migrants or migration are negative”.
Landau was addressing a conference on curbing xenophobia in Pretoria on Tuesday.
Then read this sidebar article entitled “Digging up the roots of xenophobia.” I don’t know why this is so complicated. There are too many people in Africa, the economy stinks, everyone is worried about feeding themselves and their families, they are going to flood any country that offers asylum and a way out (refugee resettlement), consequently, the citizens of the invaded country fear for their livelihood so they attack those who they think will take it away from them.
This is not some psychological malady that can be cured by discussing and trying to exorcise “xenophobia,” or suggesting it’s racism (remember these were black on black riots). What is happening in South Africa is a straightline progression from opening the borders wide, allowing the poor to flood the country and ultimately sinking the country. Take heed America.
See our archive of posts on the South African immigration crisis here.