26 April 2022
Rwanda/UK/Asylum seekers: London’s plan to outsource asylum seekers to Kigali “is part of a wider strategy deployed by the powerful governments of richer nations, from Australia to the EU, to discourage unwanted arrivals by creating conditions that are hostile or inhumane.” These politics of exclusion go against refugees’ right provided by the International Refugee Convention “to have their cases considered in the country in which they have chosen to seek refuge”. With the Ukrainian war having shown how British immigration policy “is biased in terms of race, religion and skill-set”, the offloading of the unwanted migrants is – in the eyes of the article’s author – the 21st century version UK imperialism – in the past, it was slaves and indentured workers who were transported within the colonial empire across continents and seas.
https://theconversation.com/how-the-uks-plan-to-send-asylum-seekers-to-rwanda-is-21st-century-imperialism-writ-large-181501
Orlando Julius’ Afrobeat: An article celebrating the recently deceased Afrobeat giant (1943-2022) who in many ways was the opposite of Fela Kuti.
https://theconversation.com/orlando-julius-nigerias-afrobeat-pioneer-lived-for-his-art-181801
Deglobalization: According to a recent World Bank report, the reshoring of value chains (to avoid future supply-chain disruptions, ensuring a steady and reliable supply of goods after the Covid and now the Ukraine experiences) could push 52 million more people into extreme poverty. Global trade integration had reached its peak in 2008, then the financial crisis made it decline and its downturn has become pronounced since 2018. Not sure though that the article’s belief in integration into value chains provides a sound basis for economic development.
https://theconversation.com/africa-faces-hard-knocks-as-rich-countries-take-manufacturing-back-home-181490
Health risks of floods: While stating at the outset, that the health risks of floods include drowning & trauma, people with chronic health conditions not being able to access health services or take the medication they need, damage or disruption to healthcare infrastructure and systems, anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder and infection, the rest of the article only deals with the different kinds of infections that loom.
https://theconversation.com/floods-create-health-risks-what-to-look-out-for-and-how-to-avoid-them-181718
Nigeria: In the first three months of 2022, 65% of the country’s total security incidents with 2,331 deaths were recorded in the north-west and north-central regions. The bandit groups mainly engage in cattle rustling, kidnapping civilians for ransom, armed attacks and community invasion. The authorities have so far failed to get a grip on the situation. The article identifies five strategies that the government has pursued (negotiations with the bandits, air bombardments, deploying more and women soldiers, banning payment of ransom, calling bandits terrorists) and briefly analyses why all five failed. What is really required to combat banditry is to lift Nigerians out of poverty, hunger and unemployment.
https://theconversation.com/nigerias-banditry-why-5-government-strategies-have-failed-181208
Congo-Kinshasa: A second Ebola death has been confirmed in Mbandaka, Equateur province, a female relative of the first victim who had run away from the Ebola team. Yesterday Monday, health authorities had stated they had identified more than 100 possible contacts of the first victim. Vaccination is to start tomorrow Wednesday.
BBC Africa Live 26 April 2022. 10:19
25 April 2022
“The pepper seller knows not to rub their hand on their face”
BBC Africa Live 25 April 2022. 4:32. Proverb of the day. Sent by Smartnation Mathew Bako to BBC News Pidgin
Uganda/Art/Venice Biennale: Uganda is represented at the famous exhibition for the first time – at the Ugandan pavilion works of Acaye Kerunen and paintings by Collin Sekajugo are exhibited. Acaye Kerunen collaborates with craftswomen to create her pieces – she says: “Uganda is again in the limelight for the right reasons.” In choosing to work with materials like bark-cloth rafia, she according to the jury “illustrates sustainability as a practice and not just a policy or concept”. The Biennale is on show until the 27th of November.
BBC Africa Live 25 April 2022. 17:37