Paper short abstract:

This reflective essay considers what Europe can learn from African debates, discussions and policies when it comes to protecting people on the move. It considers solidarity narratives, policy-making from a disadvantaged position and rethinking citizenship in a post-colonial world.

Paper long abstract:

Enhanced through vaccine inequities, we live in a world of fundamentally unequal rights to move. Making matters worse, refugees and other migrants face increasing violations of their basic rights and human dignity, especially in Europe. What can Europe learn when it looks to the neighbouring African continent? With some of the largest refugee populations and best legal protection in the 1969 OAU Convention, Africa is a frontrunner when it comes to protecting people on the move. This is not to romanticise or essentialize an entire continent: in Africa too, refugee rights are being dismantled and migrants face xenophobic sentiments including deadly violence. But the mistreatment of refugees and other migrants in Europe (and at her borders) is only made worse through arrogantly dismissing the conversations and actions taking place in Africa.

Based on five years of research on African migration and refugee policies, this reflective essay will consist of three parts, namely reflections on solidarity narratives, policy-making from a disadvantaged position and rethinking citizenship in a post-colonial world. First, it will take stock of humanitarian arguments made by African governments and policymakers. Second, the essay will reflect on how African governments, facing a wholly unequal bargaining position, can carve out resistance to European dominance in migration policies using the example of forced return. In a final section, the essay will review intellectual discussions on the continent that make a case for Pan-African citizenship, which could radically alter how we think of people on the move.