XENOPHOBIA
Dream of African Renaissance may go up in flames
Rising violence holds little benefit for the region, writes Nceku Nyathi
As one of Africa’s leading economies, it should not come as a surprise that immigration is a big issue in SA and sub-Saharan Africa. According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, sub-Saharan Africa hosts 26% of the world’s refugee population. While the spotlight in recent years has been on the Syrian refugee crisis that affected Europe, the vast majority of African refugees flee to countries on the continent. SA far and away takes in the most refugees. Between 2006 and 2012, SA received the highest number of asylum seekers of any country in the world — peaking in 2009 with 222,300 claims. And the country has been something of a leader in the region with regards to its treatment of refugees, allowing them to move freely and work in SA, while their cases are reviewed. But this moral leadership is under threat. Following a spate of violent attacks on foreigners starting in 2008, many perceive that the populist rule of President Jacob Zuma is overseeing an unravelling in refugee r...
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