AFRIDU Calls For AU Accountability Mechanism To Track Attacks On African Migrants
Ganiat Balogun, Abuja
The African Diaspora Union (AFRIDU) has called for stronger continental action to protect African migrants from attacks, discrimination and exploitation, including consideration of an African Union monitoring and accountability mechanism to track serious incidents, government responses, prosecutions and progress across member states.
The call was contained in a press briefing signed by Archbishop Prof. Chidiebere Anelechi Ogbu, president of AFRIDU, during a High-Level Strategic Dialogue on Migration in Africa held on Monday Oct. 5 at the Army Conference Center and Suites, Abuja. The dialogue was held under the theme, “Effect of Migration on the African Citizens.” AFRIDU urged African leaders to move beyond migration statistics and confront the human consequences of migration, including trafficking, dangerous migration routes, discrimination and attacks against Africans because of their nationality or perceived foreign status.
“We are not gathering simply to discuss migration; rather we will be gathering to confront one of the defining challenges of our generation,” Ogbu said. He said behind every migration statistic was a human being, including a mother, father, son, daughter, student, professional, farmer, entrepreneur or young African pursuing a better future.
The briefing questioned why Africans continue to risk their lives crossing deserts and the Mediterranean Sea in ordinary boats to reach Europe, arguing that enforcement of migration laws alone would not resolve the problem without addressing the conditions that make people vulnerable to traffickers. “There are uncomfortable questions that responsible leaders must have the courage to ask,” the statement said, adding that African countries must address the root causes that expose people to trafficking and dangerous migration.
AFRIDU also raised concerns about attacks against Africans within the continent, including incidents involving nationality or perceived foreign status, the destruction of African-owned businesses and intimidation by unauthorised groups. It questioned what should happen when an African is attacked in another African country and whether such incidents should simply be recorded and left unresolved. The briefing further asked whether attacks against African migrants and what it described as Afro-phobia should continue to be treated solely as domestic matters or require a coordinated continental response.
“Should the African Union establish a continental monitoring and accountability mechanism to track serious incidents, government responses, prosecutions and progress across member states?” the briefing asked. AFRIDU said such a mechanism could provide a framework for monitoring serious incidents involving African migrants and assessing how governments respond, including whether perpetrators are prosecuted and whether meaningful progress is made.
The situation of African migrants in South Africa also featured prominently in the briefing, which referred to concerns over what it described as Afro-phobia and an ultimatum for undocumented migrants to leave the country. AFRIDU said its global leadership would use the dialogue to commend the Federal Government of Nigeria and diplomatic missions in South Africa, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, the Democratic Republic of Congo and other African countries for efforts to evacuate their citizens from South Africa.
The organisation also acknowledged state governors and corporate organisations that supported stranded Nigerians, as well as Nigerian community organisations including the Nigerian Citizens Association South Africa (NICASA), Nigerian Union South Africa (NUSA), Christian Association of Nigeria South Africa (CANSAF) and the Igbo Lawyers Association. AFRIDU said such interventions needed to be accompanied by broader mechanisms for protecting migrants, monitoring attacks and ensuring accountability across African countries.
AFRIDU, registered in Nigeria as the African Descendants in Diaspora Union, described itself in the briefing as a Pan-African organisation focused on African unity, diaspora engagement, sustainable development, youth empowerment, peace building, investment, diplomacy and the advancement of the rights and interests of African peoples and their descendants through reparative justice. The organisation’s central argument was that migration should not be treated merely as a matter of immigration statistics, but as a wider human and governance challenge requiring African countries to address both the circumstances that drive people to leave and the conditions they face after migration.