Mail & Guardian
Mail & Guardian
AM

Creator

Amanuel Isak Tewolde

Dr Amanuel Isak Tewolde is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Centre for Social Development in Africa at the University of Johannesburg

Taking advantage of local communities’ despair and desperation, the politicians agitate by blaming foreigners for stealing jobs (Getty)

Ethiopia and the myth of inequality and xenophobic violence

The country shows that, despite socio-economic problems, a society can be tolerant of migrants — and the attitude of leaders has a lot to do with it

Draconian military conscription rules in Eritrea mean children as young as 18 can be forced into duty.

The flight of young Eritreans is destroying the country’s human capital

Hundreds of thousands of youth are crossing into neighbouring countries or undertaking the perilous journey to Europe

BABILE, ETHIOPIA – MAY 04: Refugee camp of somali people, Oromia, Babile, Ethiopia on May 4, 2023 in Babile, Ethiopia. (Photo by Eric Lafforgue/Art in All of Us/Corbis via Getty Images)

Lessons from Ethiopia’s progressive refugee policy

Ethiopia’s public attitudes should be blueprints for other African countries

Retrogressive: Black Africans fleeing violence as well as political and social upheaval already struggle to find refuge in South Africa and it is likely this situation will worsen, a move that flies in the face of the African Union and pan-Africanists. Photo: Ihsaan Haffejee/Getty Images

Motsoaledi’s approach to refugee protection is anti-African

The home affairs minister’s attempted revision of South Africa’s progressive refugee protection policy is discouraging

Lies and stereotypes: A march against migrants in Pretoria. Photo: Alet Pretorius/Getty Images

Myths and realities: Are migrants really the problem?

Public figures are often quick to heighten negative stereotypes about migrants

Travellers, primarily migrant workers, wait in line at the Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on November 22, 2023, to board a plane for Dubai. (Photo by Marc Fernandes/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Free migration of Africans will boost the continent’s development

African countries’ selective immigration policies hamper pan-Africanist visions of an integrated, confederated and amalgamated continent This content is restricted to registered…

Criminal: An Operation Dudula member aims a ‘firearm’ at onlookers in Hillbrow during the vigalante movement’s raid on Africans from other countries. Photo:Emmanuel Croset/AFP

Operation Dudula’s xenophobia is a blight on South Africa

Discrimination against migrants might have negative repercussions for South Africans in the rest of Africa

It is true that in the African continent, ethnicity is a dreaded term because of the continent’s experience with ethnicity- or tribe-based inter-group animosities and conflicts that, in some countries, morphed into genocides.
(Zinyange Auntony/AFP)

Ethnic consciousness should not threaten African nation-building

Ethnic identity can be harnessed to strengthen national identity — and this can foster a continental-based African identity