'Wer hat Angst vorm Schwarzen Mann' ? Afrikanische Flüchtlinge in Europa - Spielball der Politiker

,Who is afraid of the black man'? African refugees in Europe – pawns in the game of politicians

Dirk Kohnert

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: [,Who is afraid of the black man' ? African refugees in Europe – pawns in the game of politicians] - While Europe was one of the most important areas of emigration in past centuries - a total of 29 million people emigrated from Europe to America - the migration trend has reversed since the end of the 1950s. The focal points of refugee flows have moved from Europe to the Third World. Since the collapse of dictatorial systems in the former Eastern bloc and in Africa, the onslaught of refugees and migrants on the ‘prosperity fortress’ Europe has also increased considerably. The immediate response of wider European populations to this influx of refugees is rejection and fear of loss of acquis. Among these immigrants, Africans are the ones who have the most to suffer, last but not least, because they are most easily identified by their skin color. Population migrations and migrant labour have a long tradition in the history of Africa. However, the causes and forms of African migration have changed fundamentally since the 1970s. Africa has been in a profound structural economic and social crisis for more than a decade. In view of their state of development and the economic crisis, the African receiving countries have much more to suffer because of this refugee influx than the relatively prosperous Western European states. However, the admission of African refugees is not just a moral problem. In view of the extent of the new African migration, the misery of African refugees also has a central political dimension. Refugees and migrants become the scapegoat of politicians, pawns in the chess of strategic groups (in Africa, and overseas) for influence, power and money.

Keywords: international migration; refugees; Africa; Europe; immigration legislation; Germany (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F22 F35 K37 N94 N97 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1993-11
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Published in Afrika-Jahrbuch 1992 (1993): pp. 65-76

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