Causes of the refugee problem in Africa
1. Colonialism: At the grass root of the refugee crisis was the oppressive/brutal colonial rule in countries like South Africa, Namibia, Angola, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Guinea Bissau. The arrest, detention and killing of nationalists made a number of elites and later peasant youths to flee for their lives. The elites included Sam Nujoma of Namibia, Edwardo Mondlane of Mozambique etc.
2. The wars of liberation in Angola, Algeria, Guinea Bissau and so on led to the refugee crisis in neighbouring countries e,g More than 300,000 Angolans fled to neighbouring Zaire. They were fleeing from the murderous Portuguese weapons.
3. Military coup de tats usually lead to a massive exodus of refugees. This is because the military over throw of legitimate governments is usually accompanied by political killings/assassinations e.g. following the 1974 coup de tat in Ethiopia, the supporters of the deposed Emperor Haille Sellasie fled the country. The 1963 assassination of president Sylvanus Olympic made a number of his supporters to flee from Togo. The 1993 murder of Melchior Ndadaye of Burundi led to the same phenomenon. Etc.
4. Dictatorial rule in Africa contributes to the refugee problem in Africa. Dictatorship is characterized by detention without trial, torture of one's political opponents, censorship of the press, banning of political parties etc. Both the civilian African Presidents such as Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana and Obote of Uganda and the military presidents such as Idi Amin of Uganda, San Abacha of Nigeria. Kamuzu Banda of Malawi, Mengistu Mariam of Ethiopia and Late Siad Barre of Somalia practiced dictatorship, e.g San Abacha murdered the Pro-democrat Ken Saro Wiwa and 8 other Ogoni people in 1995. Such experiences led to an exodus of the opponents.
5. Ethnic violence/cleansing also leads to the refugee problem in Africa. Ethnic cleansing is the massive massacre of members of one tribe by another e.g the Hum against the Tutsi in Rwanda in the 1950s and 1960s led to large scale movements of the Tutsi to Uganda, Tanzania Congo etc... Again the 1994 genocide in Rwanda led to the flight /fleeing of about 2.4 million Rwandese to T.Z, DRC and Burundi. In Mauritania, about 80,000 people fled to Senegal and Mali in 1989 due to ethnic violence. In 1994, ethnic violence led 12,000 Ghanaians into Togo etc.
6. Civil wars in various parts of Africa have contributed greatly to the refugee crisis. The 1967-1970 Nigerian civil war, the 1981-2002 civil wars in Uganda, the 1955- 2002 civil wars in Sudan, the 1992 - 1993 civil war in Togo, then the civil wars in Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Angola etc. have all led to the refugee problem.
7. Border conflicts between African countries have also led to the refugee problem. e.g the Ogaden boarder conflict between Ethiopia and Somalia led to war and displacement of persons, then the Eritrea-Ethiopia interstate conflict, the Uganda- Tanzania conflict over Kagera, the Algeria ~ Morocco conflict over Polisario etc... have also produced refugees.
8. Unpopular political programmes also lead to the refugee crisis. For instance, there exist a number of Sudanese refugees at Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya who escaped from the compulsory military service in Sudan. These kind of refugees are term as draft evaders.
9. Natural hazards also contribute to the refugee crisis in Africa, e.g. Long periods of droughts followed by excessive and destructive rains have contributed to the exodus of persons from Sudan and Somalia (1997-1998). The 1998 El-Nine weather problem led to displacements in of various parts of Africa. The February-April 2000 heavy rains and cyclone winds in Mozambique caused floods, food shortage, diseases and deaths. This led to the fleeing of people.
10. Religious persecution also leads to the refuge problem e.g During the Holly months of Ramathan, the Algerian Muslim fundamentalists usually assault members of other faiths leading to massive outflows. The late Mobutu Seseseko at one time greatly persecuted Christians and a number of them fled from Zaire.
11. Unpopular social customs such as female genital mutilation leads to the refugee problem e.g. women' and their daughters run away from Sudan, Kenya and Eastern Uganda for fear of female circumcision,
12. Economic consideration also lead to the refugee crisis in Africa e.g. a number of Africans fled to Botswana, Namibia and South Africa for greener pastures. Also, a 349 big number of African economic refugees exist in Europe and USA. These run away from the deteriorating economies in their mother countries.
2. The wars of liberation in Angola, Algeria, Guinea Bissau and so on led to the refugee crisis in neighbouring countries e,g More than 300,000 Angolans fled to neighbouring Zaire. They were fleeing from the murderous Portuguese weapons.
3. Military coup de tats usually lead to a massive exodus of refugees. This is because the military over throw of legitimate governments is usually accompanied by political killings/assassinations e.g. following the 1974 coup de tat in Ethiopia, the supporters of the deposed Emperor Haille Sellasie fled the country. The 1963 assassination of president Sylvanus Olympic made a number of his supporters to flee from Togo. The 1993 murder of Melchior Ndadaye of Burundi led to the same phenomenon. Etc.
4. Dictatorial rule in Africa contributes to the refugee problem in Africa. Dictatorship is characterized by detention without trial, torture of one's political opponents, censorship of the press, banning of political parties etc. Both the civilian African Presidents such as Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana and Obote of Uganda and the military presidents such as Idi Amin of Uganda, San Abacha of Nigeria. Kamuzu Banda of Malawi, Mengistu Mariam of Ethiopia and Late Siad Barre of Somalia practiced dictatorship, e.g San Abacha murdered the Pro-democrat Ken Saro Wiwa and 8 other Ogoni people in 1995. Such experiences led to an exodus of the opponents.
5. Ethnic violence/cleansing also leads to the refugee problem in Africa. Ethnic cleansing is the massive massacre of members of one tribe by another e.g the Hum against the Tutsi in Rwanda in the 1950s and 1960s led to large scale movements of the Tutsi to Uganda, Tanzania Congo etc... Again the 1994 genocide in Rwanda led to the flight /fleeing of about 2.4 million Rwandese to T.Z, DRC and Burundi. In Mauritania, about 80,000 people fled to Senegal and Mali in 1989 due to ethnic violence. In 1994, ethnic violence led 12,000 Ghanaians into Togo etc.
6. Civil wars in various parts of Africa have contributed greatly to the refugee crisis. The 1967-1970 Nigerian civil war, the 1981-2002 civil wars in Uganda, the 1955- 2002 civil wars in Sudan, the 1992 - 1993 civil war in Togo, then the civil wars in Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Angola etc. have all led to the refugee problem.
7. Border conflicts between African countries have also led to the refugee problem. e.g the Ogaden boarder conflict between Ethiopia and Somalia led to war and displacement of persons, then the Eritrea-Ethiopia interstate conflict, the Uganda- Tanzania conflict over Kagera, the Algeria ~ Morocco conflict over Polisario etc... have also produced refugees.
8. Unpopular political programmes also lead to the refugee crisis. For instance, there exist a number of Sudanese refugees at Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya who escaped from the compulsory military service in Sudan. These kind of refugees are term as draft evaders.
9. Natural hazards also contribute to the refugee crisis in Africa, e.g. Long periods of droughts followed by excessive and destructive rains have contributed to the exodus of persons from Sudan and Somalia (1997-1998). The 1998 El-Nine weather problem led to displacements in of various parts of Africa. The February-April 2000 heavy rains and cyclone winds in Mozambique caused floods, food shortage, diseases and deaths. This led to the fleeing of people.
10. Religious persecution also leads to the refuge problem e.g During the Holly months of Ramathan, the Algerian Muslim fundamentalists usually assault members of other faiths leading to massive outflows. The late Mobutu Seseseko at one time greatly persecuted Christians and a number of them fled from Zaire.
11. Unpopular social customs such as female genital mutilation leads to the refugee problem e.g. women' and their daughters run away from Sudan, Kenya and Eastern Uganda for fear of female circumcision,
12. Economic consideration also lead to the refugee crisis in Africa e.g. a number of Africans fled to Botswana, Namibia and South Africa for greener pastures. Also, a 349 big number of African economic refugees exist in Europe and USA. These run away from the deteriorating economies in their mother countries.
National Movements and New States in Africa