Debating Ideas reflects the values and editorial ethos of the African Arguments book series, publishing engaged, often radical, scholarship, original and activist writing from within the African continent and beyond. It offers debates and engagements, contexts and controversies, and reviews and responses flowing from the African Arguments books. It is edited and managed by the International African Institute, hosted at SOAS University of London, the owners of the book series of the same name. 

Stranded Africans in Lebanon denounce UNHCR’s inaction. Credit: Middle East Eye

Overview

The recent surge in global wars has resulted in catastrophic humanitarian crises. While the effects on civilians generally have been immense, they have been disproportionately so for Africans. Africans in the diaspora experiencing these crises have been met with racial discrimination which has hindered their access to relief and emergency services afforded to their counterparts, causing them untold human suffering. In some cases, death has resulted. Even worse, their numbers and the particularities of their sufferings are unknown. Those experiencing wars on the continent are equally confronting insecurity, inadequate or no access to humanitarian relief, and death. In both cases, African governments and institutions, which have the primary responsibility to protect them, have failed or abdicated their duty to do so. Instead, voluntary initiatives are attempting to fill this gap. This may be commendable but it is both insufficient and unsustainable. International organisations, such as the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and other UN agencies, have also mostly failed to provide proper humanitarian assistance to the affected Africans. For the most part, they have left this responsibility to community-based initiatives. Moreover, they are avoiding the conferment of refugee status on most affected Africans, which would afford them special protection. In most cases, Africans caught up in these crises are merely referred to as “third-country nationals”. In Egypt, country recipient of the world’s largest humanitarian displacement crisis, the Sudanese are officially referred to as “guests”.

In this podcast, we examine the experiences of Africans caught up in three such ongoing global conflicts: Ukraine, Sudan and Lebanon. We compare and contrasts their experiences fleeing these wars, with a particular focus on the role that their home governments and/or African institutions and international organisations have played or failed to play in assisting and protecting them during war and after they have fled.

The podcast aims to make demands upon or offer recommendations to African governments and institutions, emphasising their primary responsibility in protecting their citizens.

Click here to listen to the podcast:

Podcast participants: 

Host: Chepkorir Sambu is a lawyer and researcher focusing on conflicts and peace processes in Eastern Africa.

On Lebanon: Salma Sakr – Egyptian activist working to assist African migrant workers in Lebanon. Currently Advocacy and Communications Manager at Anti-Racist Movement.

On Sudan: Linke – Sudanese physician, feminist, and refugee based in Egypt. Currently mobilising for Sudan’s medical integration into the Egyptian system.

On Ukraine: Edward Okyere-Darko – Ghanaian, former student in Ukraine, fled the war. Currently, master’s student at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, pursuing a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy (MALD).