How Governments create so-called ethnic conflict
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=76405
LESOTHO: Anti-Chinese resentment flares
MASERU, 24 January 2008 (IRIN) - For 14 years, Mathabo Mabekhla was one of Lesotho's most successful entrepreneurs. Her ladies' clothing boutique sold dresses, blouses and slacks imported from neighbouring South Africa, and boasted a client base that included cabinet ministers and their wives. But dwindling sales forced her to shut down last year, for which she blames the country's growing community of Chinese retailers. "Chinese are selling very cheap and not good quality things, and they are killing Basotho businesses," said Mabekhla, 59. She now sells cigarettes and beaded jewellery on the sidewalk in the capital, Maseru. "The Chinese, they must go back home," Mabekhla told IRIN. "We don't want Chinese here."
Anti-Chinese sentiment is on the rise in Lesotho, making it the latest site of such ethnic hostilities in Africa. A growing number of Basotho blame Chinese immigrants for the ongoing poverty of the small landlocked country, which has few natural resources and depends heavily on remittances from workers in its giant neighbour, South Africa. abekhla's reaction, stoked by opposition parties and local radio stations, is readily echoed from the streets of Maseru to remote villages. "If this government was not in power and we had a new government, we'd just take all the Chinese nicely out to the airport and send them back home," she said. "They are killing Basotho businesses all over! Up in the mountains you find Chinese; they are all over and they're killing us!"
China's ties with resource-rich Africa have created a growing class of Chinese entrepreneurs. China is now Africa's third-biggest trading partner; in the first 10 months of 2007, trade between China and the continent soared by more than 30 percent to US$58.7 billion. The Chinese presence in Lesotho is not a new phenomenon. For more than a decade, immigrants from mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong have fuelled Lesotho's economy, as apparel manufacturers from Asia were drawn by tax incentives and rent discounts to attract foreign direct investment. Today these textile factories are the country's biggest employers, providing more than 40,000 jobs, according to the country's Ministry of Trade and Industry. But the people who came to run these factories have in turn sponsored family members to come to Lesotho, where an estimated 5,000 Chinese now live. Many have set up general stores stocked with low-cost, imported goods, even in the most remote rural villages of the
mountain kingdom.
Backed by a formidable supply and distribution network with direct ties to China, these shops often squeeze out local retailers. So, while ethnic Chinese make up less than 0.5 percent of the country's population of 2 million, they have become the country's most successful business community. That has made them an easy target for dissatisfied locals. A number of Lesotho's residents told IRIN that the main opposition party, the All Basotho Convention (ABC), has been building a populist platform, partly by focusing on the success of Chinese immigrants. Some say the ABC is accusing the ruling Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) party of colluding with Chinese businesses. These comments are echoed on local radio stations, such as Harvest FM and People's Choice FM (PC FM).
Rioters target Chinese businesses
On 26 November 2007, in what was arguably the most public attack on the Chinese, local street vendors, angered by a municipal campaign to relocate them to a designated market place away from the city centre, went on a rampage in Maseru, targeting Chinese-owned usinesses. For years, Maseru's informal traders have set up shop in the heart of the capital, using makeshift stalls to sell everything from clothing to sweets and airtime for cellular phones. They city was brought to a standstill by the rally protesting the decision. Many informal traders yelled anti-Chinese slogans and threw rocks at the windows of Chinese-owned internet cafes and stores because some of them had stayed open despite calls for businesses to shut their doors in solidarity with the vendors. One local business owner, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation, said local radio stations had fuelled the antagonism towards the Chinese. "The day of the demonstrations, Harvest FM and PC FM were saying: 'We cannot tolerate what government is doing. We have to defend ourselves. How can Chinese run their shops while we are turned out of our country?'"
No one was injured in the unrest, but riot police were called in to restore calm in the central business district, and resentment and tension are still simmering throughout the country. "The government and opposition have to sit down to talk so they can solve this problem of the Chinese," said ABC member Letlapa Sehalahala, 24. He recently campaigned with other ABC members from a minivan equipped with loudspeakers in the village of Motsekuoa, about an hour south of Maseru. "We can't say that we expel the Chinese; we need them because they give us money. But it's our government that gets the money," Sehalahala alleged.
Historical precedent
This is not the first time immigrant traders have been singled out in Africa. In 1972, Ugandan president Idi Amin expelled 50,000 Asians, mostly Indians, who made up a sizeable portion of the country's traders. More recently, South African communities violently attacked and murdered dozens of Somali immigrants who had set up small shops, mostly in sprawling residential neighbourhoods. There were also a number of reports of anti-Chinese sentiment in Zambia, particularly during opposition leader Michael Sata's bid to unseat incumbent president Levy Mwanawasa in the 2006 presidential election.
Martyn Davies, director of the Centre for Chinese Studies at Stellenbosch University, in South Africa, said that as China increased its presence across Africa, ethnic tensions would flare up when stoked for political ends. "This is certainly a potential flashpoint, and it is certainly a risk for Chinese business and Chinese people in Africa," Davies said. "It's one which needs to be very carefully managed by African governments, and also perhaps through intervention or involvement by the Chinese government themselves." Such government mediation hasn't happened yet in Lesotho. "As far as large industries are concerned, I'm not aware of any tensions," said Mabaedsi Matsamai, director of industry at Lesotho's Ministry of Trade and Industry.
LESOTHO: Anti-Chinese resentment flares
MASERU, 24 January 2008 (IRIN) - For 14 years, Mathabo Mabekhla was one of Lesotho's most successful entrepreneurs. Her ladies' clothing boutique sold dresses, blouses and slacks imported from neighbouring South Africa, and boasted a client base that included cabinet ministers and their wives. But dwindling sales forced her to shut down last year, for which she blames the country's growing community of Chinese retailers. "Chinese are selling very cheap and not good quality things, and they are killing Basotho businesses," said Mabekhla, 59. She now sells cigarettes and beaded jewellery on the sidewalk in the capital, Maseru. "The Chinese, they must go back home," Mabekhla told IRIN. "We don't want Chinese here."
Anti-Chinese sentiment is on the rise in Lesotho, making it the latest site of such ethnic hostilities in Africa. A growing number of Basotho blame Chinese immigrants for the ongoing poverty of the small landlocked country, which has few natural resources and depends heavily on remittances from workers in its giant neighbour, South Africa. abekhla's reaction, stoked by opposition parties and local radio stations, is readily echoed from the streets of Maseru to remote villages. "If this government was not in power and we had a new government, we'd just take all the Chinese nicely out to the airport and send them back home," she said. "They are killing Basotho businesses all over! Up in the mountains you find Chinese; they are all over and they're killing us!"
China's ties with resource-rich Africa have created a growing class of Chinese entrepreneurs. China is now Africa's third-biggest trading partner; in the first 10 months of 2007, trade between China and the continent soared by more than 30 percent to US$58.7 billion. The Chinese presence in Lesotho is not a new phenomenon. For more than a decade, immigrants from mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong have fuelled Lesotho's economy, as apparel manufacturers from Asia were drawn by tax incentives and rent discounts to attract foreign direct investment. Today these textile factories are the country's biggest employers, providing more than 40,000 jobs, according to the country's Ministry of Trade and Industry. But the people who came to run these factories have in turn sponsored family members to come to Lesotho, where an estimated 5,000 Chinese now live. Many have set up general stores stocked with low-cost, imported goods, even in the most remote rural villages of the
mountain kingdom.
Backed by a formidable supply and distribution network with direct ties to China, these shops often squeeze out local retailers. So, while ethnic Chinese make up less than 0.5 percent of the country's population of 2 million, they have become the country's most successful business community. That has made them an easy target for dissatisfied locals. A number of Lesotho's residents told IRIN that the main opposition party, the All Basotho Convention (ABC), has been building a populist platform, partly by focusing on the success of Chinese immigrants. Some say the ABC is accusing the ruling Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) party of colluding with Chinese businesses. These comments are echoed on local radio stations, such as Harvest FM and People's Choice FM (PC FM).
Rioters target Chinese businesses
On 26 November 2007, in what was arguably the most public attack on the Chinese, local street vendors, angered by a municipal campaign to relocate them to a designated market place away from the city centre, went on a rampage in Maseru, targeting Chinese-owned usinesses. For years, Maseru's informal traders have set up shop in the heart of the capital, using makeshift stalls to sell everything from clothing to sweets and airtime for cellular phones. They city was brought to a standstill by the rally protesting the decision. Many informal traders yelled anti-Chinese slogans and threw rocks at the windows of Chinese-owned internet cafes and stores because some of them had stayed open despite calls for businesses to shut their doors in solidarity with the vendors. One local business owner, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation, said local radio stations had fuelled the antagonism towards the Chinese. "The day of the demonstrations, Harvest FM and PC FM were saying: 'We cannot tolerate what government is doing. We have to defend ourselves. How can Chinese run their shops while we are turned out of our country?'"
No one was injured in the unrest, but riot police were called in to restore calm in the central business district, and resentment and tension are still simmering throughout the country. "The government and opposition have to sit down to talk so they can solve this problem of the Chinese," said ABC member Letlapa Sehalahala, 24. He recently campaigned with other ABC members from a minivan equipped with loudspeakers in the village of Motsekuoa, about an hour south of Maseru. "We can't say that we expel the Chinese; we need them because they give us money. But it's our government that gets the money," Sehalahala alleged.
Historical precedent
This is not the first time immigrant traders have been singled out in Africa. In 1972, Ugandan president Idi Amin expelled 50,000 Asians, mostly Indians, who made up a sizeable portion of the country's traders. More recently, South African communities violently attacked and murdered dozens of Somali immigrants who had set up small shops, mostly in sprawling residential neighbourhoods. There were also a number of reports of anti-Chinese sentiment in Zambia, particularly during opposition leader Michael Sata's bid to unseat incumbent president Levy Mwanawasa in the 2006 presidential election.
Martyn Davies, director of the Centre for Chinese Studies at Stellenbosch University, in South Africa, said that as China increased its presence across Africa, ethnic tensions would flare up when stoked for political ends. "This is certainly a potential flashpoint, and it is certainly a risk for Chinese business and Chinese people in Africa," Davies said. "It's one which needs to be very carefully managed by African governments, and also perhaps through intervention or involvement by the Chinese government themselves." Such government mediation hasn't happened yet in Lesotho. "As far as large industries are concerned, I'm not aware of any tensions," said Mabaedsi Matsamai, director of industry at Lesotho's Ministry of Trade and Industry.
Matsamai said the government would be quick to intervene if hostilities threatened the country's foreign investors. "We encourage foreign direct investment," said Matsamai. "We probably wouldn't have any investment if we were just saying, 'only local.'" Local business leaders say the government should take a more active role in training Basotho entrepreneurs to compete as the global economy comes to their doorstep. Thabang Mokatse, deputy president of the Lesotho Chamber of Commerce, said local business owners needed skills development to withstand the shocks when immigrants entered their markets. "If no steps are being taken, in no time the whole economy will be in the hands of the Chinese."
Chinese traders feel at home
Chinese retailers in Lesotho told IRIN they have no special relationship with government, and feel they are working to contribute to the country's economic growth. "Some Basotho people think we take their business, but we think we help Lesotho grow as a country," said Chen Ke Hui, chairman of the Chinese Business Association of Lesotho. "We are not involved in politics, we are just doing business." Chen has lived in Lesotho for 16 years, and by his own account has helped more than 100 of his family members relocate here from China's Fujian Province. In that time, he has become a leader among Lesotho's business elite. He owns a handful of wholesale and retail shops, selling shoes, blankets and cooking pots - all imported from China. He has also become the biggest distributor of liquefied petroleum gas, the fuel many Basotho use to cook and heat their homes.
Chen said he has built deep relationships with his employees. "Lesotho is my second home. I work with Basotho people, I eat Basotho food, I speak the Sesotho language. We're very happy. We enjoy it here."He said only a few Chinese businesses in Lesotho were affected by the demonstrations at the end of November, and that most hostilities were between locals, not Chinese, because "Many Chinese people don't know how to talk to Basotho, and this is a big problem." Chen said he did not feel any hostility from local people. He is known by his employees by his Sesotho name, Thabiso, and is an honoured guest at their weddings and funerals. In fact, Chen and his family have given up their Chinese passports to become naturalised citizens of Lesotho.
But as long as widespread poverty persists in the country, some of their new compatriots will see the Chinese as competitors.
http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/news-5446--6-6--.html
Creole and Garifuna race relations in Belize are getting better
Over the years, the race relations between the Creoles and the Garifunas were very strained in Belize due to the colonial policies instituted by the British Government against the Garinagu people in their native country St Vincent, and the Creoles in our country Belize.
The Garifuna people derived from a mixture of Africans, who were brought from Africa to the Caribbean to be slaves in the 1600s, and native Galinagu Indians from the island of St Vincent and other countries in the Lesser Antilles. The Creole people are Africans who were brought to Belize to be slaves and some who were not slaves but were children of the slave masters of European stock, mainly British, Scottish and Irish.
The Indian people that Christopher Columbus encountered in the Caribbean that he labeled as Caribs were Galinagu Indians. These people migrated from the Orinoco region in Central America centuries earlier, through South America and then to the islands, mainly in the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean.
After Christopher Columbus and his Spanish fleet were defeated by these fierce fighting Galinagu Indians in the 1500s, Christopher Columbus warned the Spanish king not to send any more Spanish explorers and soldiers into that region. He described them as cannibals because of some of the rituals they performed throughout the battle.
In the Galinagu culture, it was customary for them to sacrifice the blood and body of their enemies to their ancestors to provide them with the strength and courage to defeat their enemies. The Galinagu Indians, unlike the Arawaks, Taino, Mayas and Aztecs, resistedthe Spanish attempts to conquer them. These Indians did not like the Europeans because they saw the threat that they posed to the indigenous people of the Caribbean.
After the Spanish left, the French came into the region but used the religious conversion approach to try and convert these Indians to Christians. These Indians had their own religion and did not appreciate the French coming there to convert them to become Catholics. They fought against the French and removed them from the island. The Galinagu Indians raided all the slave islands in the region and brought back their captives to St Vincent to live among them. Due to the acculturation between the Africans and the Galinagu Indians, a new race of people emerged now known as “Garifuna.” Garifuna is a combination of African and Galinagu culture.
Africa has over one thousand different races of people. There has been no documentary evidence that I am aware of that can point to what specific African race the Garifuna people came from. It is safe to say that they derived from several different African races because of the quantity of raids the Galinagu Indians conducted against the British, French and Dutch islands in the region. The Galinagu Indians and the Garifuna people were defeated by the British after years of fighting on March 11, 1797 and were subsequently deported to Roatan, Honduras.
While the Galinagu and Garifuna people were fighting against the Spanish, French and British in the Caribbean, the British were establishing a settlement in Belize and bringing slaves from Africa to cut logwood and mahogany. The Africans slaves that came to Belize were from West Africa and they were mostly Igbo people, who lived in a region in the country of today’s Nigeria. The British enslaved these people for many years and indoctrinated them to believe that they loved them and that they were better than other blacks in the world. Slavery is one of the worst acts that a human being can commit against another human being. To kidnap, unlawfully imprison, forcefully employ and subsequently deny a human being his or her basic human rights is a crime that deserves the punishment of death. In most countries today, these crimes carry life imprisonment or death penalties.
After the Garifunas were deported from St Vincent, the British brought them on several ships to Roatan, Honduras, as prisoners of war and delivered them to the Spanish crown. Most of their names were changed from their native names to Spanish names. The Spanish and the British did not like the Garifunas because they had already experienced fighting against them in the island of St Vincent before they brought the Africans to Belize and made them slaves. The British and the Spanish governments did not want the Garifuna people to intermingle with any other African race of people because they feared that the Garifunas were going to encourage them to rebel.
Yet, evidence is available in the archives in London that the British also wanted the Garifunas to fight for them against the Spaniards in order to maintain control over Belize and the Mosquito Coast. In the war for Honduran independence, intensive fighting took place and the Garifunas fought alongside the British. The Nationalistas found out and slaughtered many Garifunas and the British offered them refuge in Belize and Nicaragua. Since the early 1800s, when slavery was still practiced in Belize, the issue of abolition of slavery was coming up in England.
The British were concerned over this issue and they started to offer relocation to the Garifunas to Belize and Nicaragua. Some Garifunas went to live in Guatemala. The British did not want the Garifunas and the Creoles to intermingle so they gave them settlements in the southern part of Belize.
Looking back, I am thinking that this would make a lot of sense because the British know of the Garifunas’ fighting skills and if the Spanish were to attack Belize from Guatemala, they would use the Garifunas again to do the fighting against the Spanish from Guatemala. These people had already removed the Garifunas from their native land St Vincent to a strange place and now they wanted the Garifunas to fight for them to expand their territorial base. The British devised a manipulative strategy of divide and conquer to control both the Garifunas and Creoles, all in their self-interest.
The Garifuna and the Creole people are both from the same African ethnic stock and are seen by the white people as the same. For us to spend a lot of time as African people to discover our British, French Dutch, Irish, Scottish, Spanish and European past is a waste of time because they are all interested in dominating and controlling us for the rest of our lives.
European nations are coming together, while African nations are fighting with each others.
Some Creoles are Garifunas and they do not even know. They had better check their roots deeper. The Garifunas and Creoles need to stop this feuding among themselves because while they are engaging in this activity, the other ethnic groups are taking over the country and depriving them of all the basic privileges they deserve as Belizeans. Garifunas and Creoles use to be well-off in Belize in the past, now they are last. We must get out there, vote and demand what is truly ours because they have already worked our people for free to build this country Belize.
Chinese traders feel at home
Chinese retailers in Lesotho told IRIN they have no special relationship with government, and feel they are working to contribute to the country's economic growth. "Some Basotho people think we take their business, but we think we help Lesotho grow as a country," said Chen Ke Hui, chairman of the Chinese Business Association of Lesotho. "We are not involved in politics, we are just doing business." Chen has lived in Lesotho for 16 years, and by his own account has helped more than 100 of his family members relocate here from China's Fujian Province. In that time, he has become a leader among Lesotho's business elite. He owns a handful of wholesale and retail shops, selling shoes, blankets and cooking pots - all imported from China. He has also become the biggest distributor of liquefied petroleum gas, the fuel many Basotho use to cook and heat their homes.
Chen said he has built deep relationships with his employees. "Lesotho is my second home. I work with Basotho people, I eat Basotho food, I speak the Sesotho language. We're very happy. We enjoy it here."He said only a few Chinese businesses in Lesotho were affected by the demonstrations at the end of November, and that most hostilities were between locals, not Chinese, because "Many Chinese people don't know how to talk to Basotho, and this is a big problem." Chen said he did not feel any hostility from local people. He is known by his employees by his Sesotho name, Thabiso, and is an honoured guest at their weddings and funerals. In fact, Chen and his family have given up their Chinese passports to become naturalised citizens of Lesotho.
But as long as widespread poverty persists in the country, some of their new compatriots will see the Chinese as competitors.
http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/news-5446--6-6--.html
Creole and Garifuna race relations in Belize are getting better
By Wellington C. Ramos
Monday, January 14, 2008
Monday, January 14, 2008
Over the years, the race relations between the Creoles and the Garifunas were very strained in Belize due to the colonial policies instituted by the British Government against the Garinagu people in their native country St Vincent, and the Creoles in our country Belize.
The Garifuna people derived from a mixture of Africans, who were brought from Africa to the Caribbean to be slaves in the 1600s, and native Galinagu Indians from the island of St Vincent and other countries in the Lesser Antilles. The Creole people are Africans who were brought to Belize to be slaves and some who were not slaves but were children of the slave masters of European stock, mainly British, Scottish and Irish.
The Indian people that Christopher Columbus encountered in the Caribbean that he labeled as Caribs were Galinagu Indians. These people migrated from the Orinoco region in Central America centuries earlier, through South America and then to the islands, mainly in the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean.
After Christopher Columbus and his Spanish fleet were defeated by these fierce fighting Galinagu Indians in the 1500s, Christopher Columbus warned the Spanish king not to send any more Spanish explorers and soldiers into that region. He described them as cannibals because of some of the rituals they performed throughout the battle.
In the Galinagu culture, it was customary for them to sacrifice the blood and body of their enemies to their ancestors to provide them with the strength and courage to defeat their enemies. The Galinagu Indians, unlike the Arawaks, Taino, Mayas and Aztecs, resistedthe Spanish attempts to conquer them. These Indians did not like the Europeans because they saw the threat that they posed to the indigenous people of the Caribbean.
After the Spanish left, the French came into the region but used the religious conversion approach to try and convert these Indians to Christians. These Indians had their own religion and did not appreciate the French coming there to convert them to become Catholics. They fought against the French and removed them from the island. The Galinagu Indians raided all the slave islands in the region and brought back their captives to St Vincent to live among them. Due to the acculturation between the Africans and the Galinagu Indians, a new race of people emerged now known as “Garifuna.” Garifuna is a combination of African and Galinagu culture.
Africa has over one thousand different races of people. There has been no documentary evidence that I am aware of that can point to what specific African race the Garifuna people came from. It is safe to say that they derived from several different African races because of the quantity of raids the Galinagu Indians conducted against the British, French and Dutch islands in the region. The Galinagu Indians and the Garifuna people were defeated by the British after years of fighting on March 11, 1797 and were subsequently deported to Roatan, Honduras.
While the Galinagu and Garifuna people were fighting against the Spanish, French and British in the Caribbean, the British were establishing a settlement in Belize and bringing slaves from Africa to cut logwood and mahogany. The Africans slaves that came to Belize were from West Africa and they were mostly Igbo people, who lived in a region in the country of today’s Nigeria. The British enslaved these people for many years and indoctrinated them to believe that they loved them and that they were better than other blacks in the world. Slavery is one of the worst acts that a human being can commit against another human being. To kidnap, unlawfully imprison, forcefully employ and subsequently deny a human being his or her basic human rights is a crime that deserves the punishment of death. In most countries today, these crimes carry life imprisonment or death penalties.
After the Garifunas were deported from St Vincent, the British brought them on several ships to Roatan, Honduras, as prisoners of war and delivered them to the Spanish crown. Most of their names were changed from their native names to Spanish names. The Spanish and the British did not like the Garifunas because they had already experienced fighting against them in the island of St Vincent before they brought the Africans to Belize and made them slaves. The British and the Spanish governments did not want the Garifuna people to intermingle with any other African race of people because they feared that the Garifunas were going to encourage them to rebel.
Yet, evidence is available in the archives in London that the British also wanted the Garifunas to fight for them against the Spaniards in order to maintain control over Belize and the Mosquito Coast. In the war for Honduran independence, intensive fighting took place and the Garifunas fought alongside the British. The Nationalistas found out and slaughtered many Garifunas and the British offered them refuge in Belize and Nicaragua. Since the early 1800s, when slavery was still practiced in Belize, the issue of abolition of slavery was coming up in England.
The British were concerned over this issue and they started to offer relocation to the Garifunas to Belize and Nicaragua. Some Garifunas went to live in Guatemala. The British did not want the Garifunas and the Creoles to intermingle so they gave them settlements in the southern part of Belize.
Looking back, I am thinking that this would make a lot of sense because the British know of the Garifunas’ fighting skills and if the Spanish were to attack Belize from Guatemala, they would use the Garifunas again to do the fighting against the Spanish from Guatemala. These people had already removed the Garifunas from their native land St Vincent to a strange place and now they wanted the Garifunas to fight for them to expand their territorial base. The British devised a manipulative strategy of divide and conquer to control both the Garifunas and Creoles, all in their self-interest.
The Garifuna and the Creole people are both from the same African ethnic stock and are seen by the white people as the same. For us to spend a lot of time as African people to discover our British, French Dutch, Irish, Scottish, Spanish and European past is a waste of time because they are all interested in dominating and controlling us for the rest of our lives.
European nations are coming together, while African nations are fighting with each others.
Some Creoles are Garifunas and they do not even know. They had better check their roots deeper. The Garifunas and Creoles need to stop this feuding among themselves because while they are engaging in this activity, the other ethnic groups are taking over the country and depriving them of all the basic privileges they deserve as Belizeans. Garifunas and Creoles use to be well-off in Belize in the past, now they are last. We must get out there, vote and demand what is truly ours because they have already worked our people for free to build this country Belize.
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