(Pic Courtesy NTIXANNEN)
By Yero Jallow
Sankanu has raised the alarm on a very unfortunate tone by the Angolan administration (Courtesy of NTIXANNEN, 12/20/2014). News tips I personally received from an anonymous family friend in Angola talks about a much higher number with even pregnant women as part of those arrested during Friday’s raid. The raid succeeded in disrupting Friday worshippers and businesses. Psychological impact is far greater than the visible physical impact, with knowledge that some of these African prison systems were built in poor, a condition which greatly affects prisoners’ health conditions.
It is obvious to say African leaders, Governments and their state resources are yet to mature enough to where they will handle high profile matters wisely. I am not saying that the Angolan administration shouldn’t oversee their immigration policies and protect their natural resource which seems to be the main attraction for immigrants from many other areas. That is a right within the law. More or less, some of these leaders and governments are dealing with political naivety, lack of good immigration policy strategies, and moreover lack of unifying African spirit. Years ago, when Senegal deported the late Kukoi to Mali, it was thoughtfully one of the worst that came from the Sall administration. If the Sall administration for example found Kukoi’s activities as subversive to their laws, the best would have been to allow the law to take place, rather than deporting an African son with all rights to reside in Senegal, especially where his safety was at stake in his birth country, The Gambia.
In a similar vein, most of these immigrants in Angola are threatened by economic safety and lack of jobs in their home country, especially where the home grown dictator has succeeded in taking over all businesses and left citizens to struggle for greener pastures elsewhere. Food sufficiency is far from it. The Jammeh dictatorship has been boastfully a “show club” blowing its own trumpet, telling people about a goal for some vision of food sufficiency. The administration lied to its citizens and most of their propaganda is meant to entrench the sinking dictatorship. That is why many citizens have decided to leave the country for safety and greener pastures. Partly because the man who defaulted himself to power illegally through a military overthrow in 1994 is simply the greediest pig ever born, and he won’t only fill his belly, but gather more for his succeeding generations, as he once puts it that even his own grandchildren will never be poor. The other part is his love for power has made his soul drowning, and will do anything and everything evil to stay in power. Certainly without doubt, it is a very dangerous leadership style, especially in the age of technology and democracy.
Here again, Angola is shamefully acting with its pulses without calculating the greater importance of the immigrant population. It is clear naivety to think that the immigrant population is only out to exploit their resources. Africa must start to see the immigrant population as a contributing force to their country’s development and economy, rather than seeing them completely as strangers out to exploit.
Angola must step up to political reality. The mass arrest of immigrants is not the solution. The solution lies in coming up with realistic immigration laws, which will include legalizing its immigrant population, especially those of the immigrants that are not engaging in fraudulent activities. This program should include allowing immigrant to gain lawful employment authorizations so they can pay taxes and contribute immensely to the country’s development. Others will even quality for safety protection because of economic hardship in their home countries where criminal leaders reign.
On a note, the Gambian administration under Jammeh is not reliable. Matter of fact, with the noted mass arrest, I believe the administration is either a part of the conspiracy against its own immigrants; they didn’t do enough to make sure their immigrant population is respected outside its border, or both. Let us face the facts. Leadership is not about how much wealth an administration has gathered. It is how well life thrives that defines leadership success. Again, a mighty F-grade for this poor administration, in all angles of measurements, from human rights, to provision of basic amenities and food sufficient, and even representation for their citizens. A responsible government will step up for its citizens and possibly negotiate, rather than continually seeing them humiliated. In the past, report has been that the Gambian representative in Angola has been dealing in visas. That adds insult to injury, especially connecting the dots back to the tobacco fraud recently discovered in the United Kingdom at the Gambian embassy. It goes on without saying that the Jammeh administration and its representatives in Angola must not be trusted.
On a humanitarian note, I am personally making a call to the Angolan Government to release those arrested and allow them to have work permits so normal life and business can continue for these economic immigrants. I equally ask of all other human rights activists to petition the Angolan Government to let go on these economic immigrants.