A ZAM TRANSNATIONAL INVESTIGATION By Elizabeth BanyiTabi (Cameroon), Theophilus Abbah (Nigeria), Emmanuel Mutaizibwa (Uganda), Ngina Kirori (Kenya) and Brezh Malaba (Zimbabwe) A new ZAM transnational investigation into migration from five African countries shows that, in many cases, the urge to leave is so desperate that migrants consciously risk extortion by smugglers, Continue Reading
Zimbabwe’s émigrés deliver billions into an ailing economy By Brezh Malaba “One of the most painful realities of being a teacher in Zimbabwe is that you cannot afford to give your own children a decent education,” says Obert Masaraure (39). Masaraure is a teacher and a trade unionist, as well as a parent with three […]Continue Reading
By Emmanuel Mutaizibwa “He can pray for your visa,” promises apostle Goodwin, from his stage at the Zoe Ministries evangelical settlement on the shores of Lake Victoria, just outside Uganda’s capital Kampala. “Many have been helped already. They have travelled, they are working in the United States. You only have to bring offerings and he’ll […]Continue Reading
By Theophilus Abbah Stuck in the desert in Algeria “with nothing”, Uka Ifeanyi, on February 14 2023, accepted an offer by the International Organisation on Migration (IOM) to “resettle” back home in Nigeria. Brought back by air to Lagos, the IOM staff “asked us to wait for three months for our accommodation and resettlement,” he […]Continue Reading
Ngina Kirori On Christmas Day in 2019, at her wits end after failing for long periods to put enough food on the table at home, Faith Murunga left Kakamega, her rural area in Kenya, with an “agent” who offered her a domestic worker job in Saudi Arabia. “I simply could not bear to see my […]Continue Reading
By Elizabeth BanyiTabi DOUALA, 2 June 2023 At the reception after the funeral of Bryan Achou*, people commiserate about death of the young man, who was only 28. “He’s a kid from my neighborhood! In less than two weeks we lost two children. One was in the oceans between Turkey and Greece, the other was […]Continue Reading
By Elizabeth BanyiTabi, Emmanuel Mutaizibwa, Ngina Kirori, Theophilus Abbah and Brezh Malaba Key Points Over sixty percent of EU-funded “returnee projects” fail “Rescue centres” in Saudi Arabia keep women detained for years Cameroonian businesspeople in the diaspora have stopped investing in their home country Migrants who were returned to Cameroon were arrested, tortured, Continue Reading
By Elizabeth BanyiTabi, Emmanuel Mutaizibwa, Ngina Kirori, Theophilus Abbah and Brezh Malaba Key points Nine out of ten Nigerians said they want to “escape” “Frustration of excellence” is behind an exodus of doctors, IT experts, and teachers Academics leave behind silenced and empty campuses Oppression drives many to “vote with their feet” The extremely heavy […]Continue Reading
By Elizabeth BanyiTabi, Emmanuel Mutaizibwa, Ngina Kirori, Theophilus Abbah and Brezh Malaba Key Points The financial exploitation of migrants is a multimillion-dollar business for agencies, rackets, syndicates, and scammers Many state officials are involved in schemes exploiting migrants The production of passports yields hundreds of thousands of dollars per day African Continue Reading
By Elizabeth BanyiTabi, Emmanuel Mutaizibwa, Ngina Kirori, Theophilus Abbah and Brezh Malaba Key points Awareness campaigns about the risks of (illegal) migration, even the risk of dying, have little to no effect Aspiring migrants feel sadness about the state of their countries, but have little hope for change as their ruling elites are seen as […]Continue Reading
The Committee to Protect Journalists have called on Ugandan authorities to investigate security forces’ recent attacks against journalists and hold those responsible to account. Since March 19, security forces have harassed or assaulted at least six journalists in the country while enforcing restrictions to curb the spread of COVID-19, according to the journalists, who Continue Reading
President Yoweri Museveni. Countrymen and Countrywomen, Greetings to you all. Today, I have come to address you on the issue of the Corona virus, abbreviated as Covid19. They call it corona because, under the micro-scope, it looks like a crown (ekiruunga, engure). This is a new virus but it belongs to the family of the […]Continue Reading