Africa, "illegal" migrants and those passports that are worthless

Of Antonella Sinopoli

The migrant issue returns to the Italian political agenda.He's coming back simply because I'm in Lampedusa in the last few hours the landings began again.And with these the "we don't want them", "they should stay at home", "Italy cannot take on the problem, let Europe intervene".They are people we talk about and argue about to "get rid of".The fact is that there are human lives that end up becoming numbers.Who will ever remember the name of the thousands of people entrusted to the waves of the Mediterranean and their good (or often bad) fate. 

All our indignation does not serve to change the path that has allowed the systematic suspension of rights, the depersonalization of those who experience certain tragedies, the contempt for the needs of others, the barbarization of societies and governments.Yes, governments, because if for years we have continued to count the deaths as if it were something now normal, it means that from the emergency we have moved on to a systematic, structural phenomenon. 

Here it is death due to emigration it is one of the contemporary diseases.How to deal with it, or better yet, how to heal it does not require indignation - although this feeling is useful for distancing ourselves from the "culprits", freeing ourselves from a burden, which in reality sees us all responsible in some way.Or at least part of it.In our privileges, in our inaction, in our inertia. 

What decides the lives of millions of people is called power.Exercised with laws, constraints, money, the institutional role, with agreements that go over the heads of citizens.And which is concentrated in an object, symbol of our place in the world:the passport. 

How many times have you come across an African with his nose turned up admiring the Sistine Chapel?How many times has someone introduced you to an African friend visiting Italy?How many times have you met one on holiday in our country?The answer is “almost never”.And not because Africans are sedentary (it is thanks to the long journeys ofAfrican homo sapiens that all the other continents have been “colonized”).And not because they don't want to know the world and its beauties.And not even because they are all dirt poor and unable to pay for a plane trip - round trip, of course - or even a living room. 

The reason is another.The reason lies in the difficulty of obtaining a passport (you often have to be willing to hand out a bribe to the officials on duty).In the difficulty of long hours of queuing (multiplied by days) in front of the American Consulate or of European countries to obtain a visa.When producing documents, insurance and bank guarantees to apply for that visa which often will not be issued.And we should witness the harassment at checkpoints to which African citizens are often subjected when departing from their "home" airports.Even if they have all the documents in order.Or when they arrive in European ports.Almost always stopped and inspected.On the one hand, it is their own fellow citizens who make regular departures difficult – a sort of token for being the lucky ones.On the other hand, the belief that there must be something wrong if these people arrived on a plane.In short, an African citizen must be an illegal immigrant.Judging your freedom on the basis of this document is an excellent exercise to understand how the world is divided into two categories:the privileged and i controlled. 

But let's go in order.To place borders and barriers useful for exercising power and exploitation of African territories began Berlin conference (1884-1885) which not only sanctioned the right of Leopold II, King of Belgium, to plunder what at the time (and mockingly) had been baptized Congo Free State, but it set on paper the boundaries of maneuver of foreign powers - in particular, beyond Belgium, France, the United Kingdom and Bismarck's Germany - and opened the way to colonization and what would be called "Scramble for Africa” or the partition of the continent.A division that aimed to use its resources and which then became political, military and economic control.Control of its borders.In short, once slavery and the Atlantic trade were abolished, everything was now played out on the immense continent, divided into "portions" on each of which a foreign flag stood out. 

Today, control (and power) is exercised in a more subtle way.And it is paradoxically in the years of independence that the borders between African states began to be sealed and terms such as "irregular", "illegal", "sans-papiers”.It is no coincidence that the Passport Index divide passports around the world (therefore the "value" of one's citizenship) into most powerful And least powerful.And staying on one side rather than the other is one of the categories of white privilege. 

In the 2021 "ranking".  German citizens are the luckiest.They can travel to 99 countries without needing a visa and obtain one upon arrival in 36. Visa free for Italy in 98 countries, 35 on arrival and visa required in 65 countries.And African citizens, how much freedom of movement do they have?In the Passport Index you have to get to 90th place to find an African country, but it's the Seychelles (GDP per capita higher than the average of any African country and a well-known tax haven).The same goes for Mauritius (85th), also appreciated by those looking for "discounts" from the tax authorities.For the rest, the lowest positions are competed by Asian, Latin American and Eastern European countries.And of course Africans. 

With a Gambian or Rwandan passport there are 139 countries where you need to apply for a visa to enter, 144 for Senegal and Burkina Faso and again, continuing to random, if you are Malian you can only enter 24 countries without a visa, but for another 150 the visa is essential, the Congolese (from the DRC, the one that "belonged" to Leopold II) have visa free only in 12 countries, Eritrean and Sudanese only in 9.And be careful, in the cases of African countries the possibility of traveling without a visa concerns only some countries within the regions of the continent, for example those adhering to theECOWAS and toEAC. 

The issue of visas, as we know, is one agreement-based policy, usually bilateral, on the basis of economic, commercial and diplomatic opportunities.However, none that benefits African citizens, and this map on visa policy in the Schengen area, speak clearly. 

The reasons for what appear to us to be inconsistencies are less clear.For example:because an Italian citizen who would like to go to Senegal for tourism does not need a visa if his stay is less than 90 days, but for a Senegalese who would like to do the same (enter Italy for tourism for a period not exceeding 90 days) Is a visa necessary instead? And with this, health insurance (minimum coverage 30,000 euros), proof of one's working condition and economic means, and other guarantees. 

Africans, therefore, are prisoners.Prisoners in a somewhat strange continent, always open to everyone, rich in resources essential for modern societies which however they don't make Africans rich (apart from the elites, of course).A continent whose countries have not gone around the world to wage wars (they have waged and suffered them at home).A continent made up of young people and governed by old people.A continent where young people watch the world from TV and social media and perhaps wonder why life has to be so different for most of them, why things couldn't be better.Maybe leaving.Maybe trying to get to know that mermaid Europe up close.That Europe where all the value seems to reside:the moral one, that of human rights, but also that of money, success, possibilities.This is why we leave, for a chance.Wherever you travel from.For some, a possible, permitted journey, without too many obstacles.For others it's a gamble. 

According to the “Italians in the world report 2020”, in 2019 there were 130,936 Italians who took up residence abroad (2,353 more than the previous year).40.9% are young people between 18 and 34 years old, 23.9% between 35 and 49 years old.A growing trend over the last 10 years, slowed down only (for the moment) by the pandemic.In the same year migrants who died in the Mediterranean there were 1,885 (552 in the stretch of sea that concerns our coasts).The first are called expatriates (or expats in the jargon of those who live abroad), the second economic migrants.“Labels” which essentially mean the same thing, but in the case of African migrants it takes on a negative aspect, a formula that denies rights rather than giving them (because, first of all, an economic migrant does not need humanitarian protection).A formula whose intent is to cast a shadow of shame on these young people for whom choosing is not an option.It isn't, since one's passport has so little value. 

Since the beginning of 2021, 615 people have drowned in the Mediterranean on routes to Spain, Greece and Italy.This number includes those disappeared drowned a few weeks ago while trying to reach a safe haven from the Libyan coast. 

Why cross countries and deserts, pass through the hands of traffickers and jailers to end up breathing the last bit of hope on a broken boat?Simply because there is no choice.Simply because an African (one without support and without important relatives) is almost "destined" to become an illegal immigrant if he decides to do what others are allowed to do default:travel, look for another life, follow a dream.Yes, being an economic migrant is a crime.Punishable by death for those coming from that strange continent that is Africa.And often passing through a country like Libya.A country without a state - in fact in the hands of the militiamen - And without rights, but has become a bulwark of our right to security.And which Italy continues to rely on to control migratory flows directed towards our country. 

The policy of border externalization, militarization and human rights abuses generated by this system have long been strongly criticized by NGOs, legal experts, civil society.Let's just think about what is emerging about the action of Frontex, the European border and coast guard agency which contributed to building Fortress Europe and has often been accused, in past And Today, to send migrants and asylum seekers back to Libyan prisons. 

But even though over the years these policies (including violations of human rights) have proven to be ineffective, we continue hard-nosed, regardless of the roots of the problem.Just as African leaders seem careless and have nothing to say about the young people who drowned or died in the Sahara desert.How come the leaders of the continent they never organized a meeting official to discuss the "migration emergency"?Why has the African Union never taken up the issue?Perhaps inviting Europe to discuss it in Africa.Perhaps because we should admit failures in social and economic policies, in the ability - or lack of will - to defend the rights of its citizens.Failure to negotiate the right to mobility.Or also because what matters is maintaining power, for oneself and one's entourage.No, i deaths due to emigration they do not represent a priority, nor a public issue.On the contrary, it is a private matter, a personal story.And whoever doesn't make it, worse for him. 

But even those who manage to conquer Fortress Europe have not concluded the game with their eyes closed with fate.Expulsion and repatriations  - which in any case are demonstrating the difficulty of application - hang like a sword of Damocles over these individuals who look to Europe as the promised land.A land that instead only thinks about how to get rid of it. In 2019, 500,000 people were subject to expulsion orders, but of these only 142,000 were actually repatriated.Returning to your homeland, with nothing in your pocket except the experience of a desperate journey, is a failure, a shame.For those who return, for their family, but also for Europe itself.A giant that is unable to live a balanced relationship with a continent that cannot continue to represent only a territory of conquest and use (exploitation) of those resources without which the well-being of our societies would not be possible.And that cannot continue to hope to "convince" the leaders of African countries to prevent citizens from emigrating.

Africa has the youngest population in the world, average age 19.7 years.And it is expected that, by 2030, African youth will represent 42% of young people globally and will account for 75% of those under the age of 35 in Africa.An enormous potential to which, however, the right attention does not seem to be paid by those who govern.The level of unemployment on the continent in 2020 it was 20.7% (10.7% for youth only), destined to rise by a few points in 2021.The rate of those still living in extreme poverty (with less than 1.90 dollars a day) is also high. 40% in sub-Saharan Africa alone.That is to say that two thirds of the world population living below the poverty line are represented by Africans.An even more disconcerting fact if you think about how many projects and infrastructures have been created (or are underway) financed by international cooperation and foreign investors. 

There is no African country where investments are not taking place in every sector.But in reality in recent years the gap between the two Africas seems to have widened:that of the elite, of the upper middle class, of educated young people, constantly connected to the Internet and who inaugurate successful start-ups and then that of the most disadvantaged, vulnerable population.Urbanization also continues to grow.Today almost 44% of the population - and according to estimates this percentage is destined to grow - lives in urban areas.Often, however, without work and prospects.Which has multiplied the presence of slums, shantytowns on the outskirts of cities, devoid of any essential service and with obvious problems related to health and crime.A real social emergency. 

SAccording to UN-Habitat in the sub-Saharan continent, in 2010, around 200 million people lived in slums.But these are figures that should obviously be updated.Just as a social emergency are the numerous refugee camps scattered in various regions of the continent.Mainly the result of conflicts and environmental emergencies - the climate crisis it has practically changed life models, grazing and cultivation possibilities and put the survival of millions of people at risk.Sub-Saharan Africa hosts over 26% of the global refugee population.Some of these They've been there for decades, which have become real cities and thousands and thousands of children who were born there do not know a life other than that.Like Dadaab on the Somali border and Kakuma between South Sudan and Uganda.From time to time, closure is looming, and therefore the problem of how and where to relocate millions of people.Places of marginalization where violent, extremist ideologies take root, as he explains this report of theInstitute for Security Studies. 

On the other hand, terrorism in Africa has significantly increased in the last decade.The Sahel region, the countries of the Horn of Africa, Nigeria, Mozambique:all areas where factions and armed groups have multiplied.Second ACLED, which provides updated data on ongoing conflicts around the world, in 2015 there were 381 attacks against the civilian population (1,394 victims).In 2020, attacks rose to 7,108 (12,519 victims). 

I am there are many reasons of this instability which obviously involves young people.But first and foremost there are the economic reasons and the image - so to speak - that Africans are unable to build of themselves.And certainly the cumbersome military presence, in the form of aid, in the form of investments (and exploitation of resources) of foreign powers, plays its role.In this context there is a ruling class made up - largely - of seventy- and eighty-year-olds, many of whom demonstrate the desire to hold the reins of power until their death, often managing it as "a family affair".Gerontocracy and nepotism are two very widespread aspects of African leadership.The oldest leader is Cameroon's president, Paul Biya, who celebrated his 88th birthday last February.Head of State continuously since 1982.Another octogenarian is the president of Guinea, Alpha Condé (82 years old), head of state for only 11 years, but this year he will return for a third term.Alassane Ouattara, from the Ivory Coast, is 78 years old and has been at the helm of the country since 2011. He too is ready to run again in the elections which will take place in October.Nigerian Muhammadu Buhari is 77 years old and has been elected president several times.Seventy-six year old president of Ghana, Nana Akufo Addo and Yoweri Museveni, Ugandan president since 1986.Many of them, to remain in power, have asked Parliament or through a referendum to make amendments to their respective Constitutions, abolishing term limits and, in some cases, age limits. 

Contrary to a certain narrative, African youth (and women) do not always stand by and watch.Prominent figures have emerged in recent times (see Bobi Wine in Uganda) which aim to fight and break the old power. Protest demonstrations there were in Chad after the death of president Idriss Déby and against French interference in the country's affairs. Congolese women they marched – dressed in white – to ask the government to put an end to violence in the Kivu region, where armed militias continue to fuel and protect the plunder of the territory's riches.All this means exposing yourself, taking risks, and leaving aside those daily activities - it is the informal economy that feeds millions of African families - that are essential to moving forward. 

Africans do not stand still, in any sense.And movement is part of a constant search for life.Those who, in a hyperbolic way, talk about the invasion of Africa in our Italy, in our Europe pretend to ignore (or unfortunately really don't know) that the African population is equal to 1 billion and over 300 million people (almost 747 million the European population as of 2018) and that only a small percentage of this billion and 300 million travel to the old continent.Internal migration has much, much higher numbers.75% of sub-Saharan migrants remain within the continent, moving from one country to another, as also stated by a recent study commissioned by the European Union and which – it seems ironic – invites a change of perspective with respect to the polarization that the migration issue has taken on.And it presents a history of past and recent migrations, the motivations, the routes. 

If there is a myth to dispel, it is precisely that of a mass transfer from Africa to Europe.In mid-2019, 26.5 million Africans had emigrated to other parts of the world (UNDESA data), corresponding to only 2% of the African population.An interesting and recent one IOM report (International Organization for Migration) confirms that the number of African migrants is far lower than that of other countries.But over the years Europe has increased its control, closure and rejection actions.With good manners - such as bilateral agreements with individual countries to "keep at bay" migration orEmergency Trust Fund for Africa which includes humanitarian assistance but also repatriations – or by hook, as it is infamous agreement with Libya and strengthening its Coast Guard.Which demonstrates – says Doctors Without Borders – the cynicism of politics.After all, how can we judge the words of Prime Minister Mario Draghi pronounced at the end of a visit to Tripoli to renew "friendship" and action plans against migrants between Italy and Libya. “On the immigration level - he said - we express satisfaction with what Libya does in rescues and, at the same time, we help and assist Libya”. Rescues, this is the word used, a few days before the latest massacre at sea. 

At the beginning we talked about indignation.Which, although not enough, is essential to open a dialogue, a movement of pressure.But in Italy even the African diaspora - except for a few cases - appears too silent.Committed to fighting on the "home front" for the (sacrosanct) recognition of rights:that of citizenship first of all or not to suffer discrimination and acts of racism.Yet there have been collective responses to the killing of George Floyd in the United States.Fist raised and kneel in the squares.Don't all black bodies have the same value?If racism is structural, it is not simply by remembering that blacks were traded as slaves that a strong signal is given to the institutions today.Because in this way the thousands of Africans who have drowned in the Mediterranean in recent years will always remain just numbers.Numbers of a solitary enterprise, an enterprise dictated by a legitimate aspiration:that of leaving, learning, improving. 

Human trafficking, clandestinity, deadly crossings stop with the legality of movements.For everyone, not for a part of the world.They stop by giving everyone the same rights, they stop by not clinging to the positions and privileges achieved.Because if we are affected by the story of Kunta Kinte or of African Americans and their civil battles, we should also take a closer look at these new, young Africans who are unintentionally showing the shortcomings and inhumanity of our government systems, of our society as a whole.And with their skin they are denouncing the double standard on freedom of movement, on the right to migration. 

“Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each nation.Everyone has the right to leave any country, including their own, and to return to their own country”
(Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

Everyone, in fact.In the objectives of the African Union there is the visa liberalization, i.e. access to all 54 countries on the continent.An African citizen will be able to move and travel to any other African country without the need for any consular documentation.The idea - of an applied Pan-Africanism - is to guarantee the freedom of people, and not just goods, within the free trade area, AfCFTA, an agreement that came into force in 2019.At the moment I am 36 countries have ratified it. 

But this is another matter, it concerns above all the economy, trade and who knows if it will abolish that "habit" of border officials of getting paid (bribe mandatory) even where the visa free between some countries.A harassment that Africans have always been accustomed to.The important question remains that of the relations between old Europe and young Africa.An Africa that welcomes, that never, ever rejects anyone, but that - when the time is right - is instead rejected and left to drown.

Preview image:Mstyslav Chernov, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons