ADEKEYE ADEBAJO: Will AU keep its vow to alleviate plight of refugee millions?
Root causes of Africa’s insecurity lie in poor governance, political exclusion and socioeconomic inequalities, which have greatly contributed to conflicts
AU leaders declared at their February summit in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa that 2019 will be “The year of refugees, returnees and internally displaced persons”. They also commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) refugee convention and the 10th anniversary of the AU Kampala convention on internally displaced persons. The root causes of Africa’s insecurity lie in poor governance, political exclusion and socioeconomic inequalities, which have greatly contributed to conflicts that have displaced people internally and sent them fleeing across borders. African migration to Europe is also a result of the colonial legacy and postcolonial external meddling. About 60% of the continent’s population is younger than 30 years, with 3,221 African migrants having died in the Mediterranean since 2017 in vain attempts to reach “fortress Europe”. About 16.5-million Africans are internally displaced, while 6.5-million (about 35% of the global total) are ref...
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