Migration in the Horn: Colonial and Post-Colonial Perspectives

Aim of this article is to analyse the complex phenomenon of migrations in the Horn of Africa in a broad historical perspective, though the main emphasis will be on its post-colonial dimension. The discussion will be organised into two main sections. The first section will provide a concise historical background, where significance and patterns of movements of people in the Horn in the pre-colonial period will be discussed. Conflicts, famines, drought, epidemics, pilgrimages, search for education will be all discussed as factors which played a role in determining individual and collective displacements. The rationale for including this section in a paper dealing with the post-colonial period lay in the fact that it is important to be able to identify elements of continuity in the long durée of African history, beside the elements of change and rupture, which sometime tend to be overemphasised. Still part of this introductory section, will follow a discussion of meanings and patterns of people’s movement during the colonial period. In this part, a variety of phenomena will be taken into account; among them migration or exile as expression of political opposition to colonial domination or as a protest against taxation policies. With regard to the colonial period attention will also be paid to the complex and until now little-studied phenomenon of colonial troops in the Horn. It is in fact my strong belief that the massive enrolment of Africans in Colonial armies (in this case in the Italian army) and their deployment along many different fronts can be discussed also as a peculiar form of ‘migration’ with lasting consequences on the communities of provenience as well as in the hosting ones. The second section of this paper will deal specifically with migrations in the post-colonial period. The main themes discussed in this section will cover a variety of aspects related to migration, in the attempt to provide a comprehensive picture of the phenomenon in the Horn. First of all a broad introduction to the main political and social events that led to the development of migration as a regular and, to a certain extent, structural component in the life of Horn of Africa’s societies. After this introductory remark will follow an analysis of the main actors involved in post-colonial migration: from the early small groups of students, housemaids, and political opponents between the early 50s and the 60s, to the massive exodus of war refugees and economically motivated emigrants in the late 70s and 80s. Related to this point there will be a discussion of the main patterns of post-colonial migration. Here will be discussed itineraries, intermediate stops and preferred final destinations of immigrants. Finally, after a conceptualisation of the elusive concept of Diaspora this paper will conclude with a discussion of the main consequences of modern forms of migration from the Horn on both originating and hosting societies. A key immediate result of the development of large Diaspora is the development of a powerful economic actor, which is deeply linked and interested to the internal developments of the motherland but at the same time is out of reach from its institutional mechanisms of control. This new phenomenon, which has been substantially emphasised by the latest developments in the area of Information Technology (namely Internet) rises new and complex issues related with the two crucial concepts of identity and citizenship. In other words, the postcolonial trend toward an increased movement of large masses of individuals brings about the issue of fluid identities and their institutional and political affiliation, which in turn introduces dramatic changes in the definition and perception of the concept of citizenship. In originating societies, the main element of novelty can be identified in the development of a powerful economic community which, has the potential strength (though not always the will) to influence the social and, therefore, political development of the nation, without being fully subject to its control. Good examples of this can be identified in Eritrea, were at present immigrants’ remittance amount to 40% of the country’s GDP, or Somalia were the Somali diaspora has a great role in internal economy and politics through it mobilisation on the WEB and its financial support to the various warlords. In this context I will also analyse institutional mechanisms devised in countries of origin to face this development. At the same time the need to redefine the concept of citizenship arises also in hosting countries. In this case, in fact, citizenship, which has already undergone substantial changes, not being anymore related to the prerequisite of being ancestrally indigenous to a territory, is now faced with the novelty of citizens with dual loyalties. Articulations of this phenomenon range from the economic and cultural to the political dimension. From an economic point of view the main issue is that a substantial amount of wealth produced in hosting communities is drained through a variety of formal and informal channels to foreign destinations. This issue, not particularly sensitive for relatively well off countries like the Scandinavian or the USA, can be a source of problems and economic destabilisation among economically weaker countries (See the recent conflict Between Eritrea and Ethiopia). In the Western World the phenomenon of economic drainage has become an issue only recently and mainly in association with the problem of identifying lines of supply of terrorist organisations. From a cultural point of view, the massive presence of people with substantially different linguistic, religious, and social identities has generated serious contradictions in the hosting communities, which have been solved in different ways that I will cursorily describe. On a political level the issue of loyalties is becoming increasingly sensitive, because of its potential as source of conflict of interests, if not even threat to national security. An example of this can be found in the case of the Somali leader Hussein Aideed, which though a US citizen and even member of the Marines Corp, had the legitimacy to claim for political leadership in Somalia, at a moment when the US considered Aideed’s father and many other Somali warlords as their enemies.