As tragic reports come in from events transpiring at
both polar ends of the continent it is important that we once again recognise
that gender is not synonymous with women and that normative assumptions about
gender put men’s lives in danger. Despite the overwhelming and frankly
revolting ‘oversight’ of western media to cover the story and other turmoil on
the continent this week (Ethiopia mourns the loss of yet more Christians at the
hands of ISIL and UN workers are attacked by Al Shabab in Somalia), in many of
the larger cities of South Africa there have been violent, gruesome and fatal
protests against immigration and immigrants ‘stealing jobs’ as a result of the
high unemployment rate in the country. Meanwhile in Europe we are seeing this
nationalist, racist and xenophobic agenda play out in the Mediterranean Sea
where hundreds of migrants and refugees fleeing conflict and poverty have
drowned in the sinking of several ‘migrant boats’ carrying people from Libya to
southern Europe.
"...there is no doubt that anti-immigration rhetoric, in times of economic crisis, has lead to both political and humanitarian crises in both regions"
Whilst personally I consider immigration to be a prosperous
and crucial component of global progress and refugee aid to be an
overwhelmingly important responsibility of developed nations and organisations
such as the EU, there is no doubt that anti-immigration rhetoric, in times of
economic crisis, has lead to both political and humanitarian crises in both
regions. The dangerous, scare-mongering and scape-goating discourse surrounding
immigration, specifically in Europe (I cannot speak for South Africa) has
absolutely been partially responsible for this migrant disaster: under the
current body of MEP’s the sea rescue mission Mare Nostrum service was cut in
favour of a cheaper and less comprehensive alternative: Triton. This was
arguably in the ‘hope’ that fewer migrants would make the journey if they did
not consider it safe. These decisions were made by anti-immigration MEP’s who
are elected in democracies in Europe. This is a specific consequence of the
rise of extreme-right, anti-immigration parties in Europe including The
National Front in France and UKIP in Britain. In Africa, where South Africa has
a tendency to consider itself superior to other central African states a
similar atmosphere prevails. These two disasters are intimately connected both
ideologically and geopolitically and it is fundamental that attitudes towards
migration and refugees are combatted and alleviated.
It overwhelmingly proven that migration, particularly
from and between developing states, is a male dominated arena as a result of
the perceived responsibility that the man in (heteronormative) relationships
will be the breadwinner whilst the women should remain at home and care for the
children. In both South Africa and off the shores of Libya men are in danger as
a result of this burden. Evidently, no one should face these brutal attacks and
catastrophes, yet it is an oversight to consider migration a gender-blind
issue. As I have detailed before, nationalism is often considered to be
affiliated with typically masculine traits put on boys and not on girls. This
has its roots in pride, defence and protector-ship also associated with
masculine norms. So, whilst masculinity is arguably highly instrumental in the
nationalist disaster, it also plays out in the gendered death toll of these
atrocities. Whilst not sufficient to explain this crisis there is once again no
doubt that gender plays a crucial role in whom is affected and why/how they are
affected by migration politics.
