Alien Must Go

Abstract

The African Union (AU) vision of an integrated Africa is in line with the pan-African vision of a unified African State and also corresponds with African philosophies of communalism and Ubuntu. But despite AU's call for integration and Ubuntu rhetoric, economic and social integration of African migrants into the fabric of their host countries have remained a major challenge. Given this problem, the objective of this chapter is to examine some of the conditions that lead to hostilities against foreigners in Africa by critiquing the traditional push-pull theory and by critically examining the idea of Ubuntu as a principle to guide immigration policies in African countries. Does Ubuntu disapprove the protection of national interest because of African brotherhood? Agreeable, “I am because we are.” But “does because we are, also mean I cannot?” The analyses in this chapter can further assist immigration policymakers to better defend national interests in the context of African brotherhood.