An African home for Haitians?

By Mncedisi Mashigoane

The crisis in Haiti has elicited all kinds of generous global responses. Of all the pledges to Haiti so far I find Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade’s the most ingenious. On behalf of the 13 million citizens of Senegal, Wade pledged R7.4 million in emergency aid and announced plans for a televised fund-raising event.

On top of this, Wade added an inspiring call to African nations to consider offering Haitians an opportunity to resettle on the continent, possibly in a newly created state of their own reminiscent of the late 19th century creation of Liberia for freed US slaves after the abolition of slavery. Wade was quoted saying: “Africa should offer Haitians the chance to return home. It is their right. There is nothing to haggle about.” This was accompanied by official statements confirming that Senegal was ready to offer parcels of fertile land to Haitians.

This is quite refreshing as it revives the abandoned discourse around repatriation that was championed by Marcus Garvey and his followers. Good ideas are, however, not infallible and the logistical challenges to Wade’s novel proposal are discernible. Chief among the questions sparked by this idea is the buy-in from the African Union and its member states as its realisation depends on the thorny issue of land and the reconfiguration of boundaries to which states are prone to object.

The other cardinal element is the willingness of the Haitians to return to Africa. This may prove the most significant impediment. The repatriation movement was very vocal in the period preceding the independence of African states from colonisation. To my understanding newly independent countries such as Ghana had long offered this option to all descendants of slaves but the response to this was unenthusiastic with few cases of repatriation by prominent people like singer Stevie Wonder and Stokely Carmichael of the Black Power movement in the US. This owes to negative misconceptions and stereotypes that are still prevalent in the world about Africa and the fear of the unknown.

If Will Smith expected to find lions and other wild animals roaming the streets of Johannesburg when he came to film Ali in 2001 one can imagine how much more entrenched these stereotypes are among ordinary Africans in the diaspora. Sadly, post-independence African governments have also done little to polish the image of our continent. Now much as Wade’s idea of a new state is attractive, the logistical challenges to this would be huge and daunting. Related to this would be the question of citizenship; will this territory exclusively cater for Haitians or must it be open to all Africans in the diaspora who wish to return home?

If Senegal is planning to offer land for this project, will the country’s neighbours support such a move? Can this model be emulated by other African countries where land is identified and put aside for Haitians and/or Africans in the diaspora who want to return home? These are just a few questions that will need to be teased out. The good thing is that the Haitian tragedy has, through Wade’s creative proposal, revived the discourse around the need to actively invite Africans in the diaspora to return to Africa and be part of the new vigour for African revival.

Mncedisi Mashigoane holds an MA in English (UCT) and PGrad Dipl in journalism (Rhodes). He is currently pursuing a PhD in media studies at Wits where he also lectures film and television.