Friday, March 19, 2010

Switzerland day of shame.

It’s almost becoming a sick joke but the loud silence often shown by African governments over the mistreatment of their citizens abroad is really shocking.

Almost on daily basis, the story of an African abroad especially in the west beaten by racists elements dominate the news media and yet their governments keep mute.
They matter less to their home governments, who prefer to sing the praise of their European masters because of the excesses from the dinner table. Either seeking asylum or doing legitimate business, most Africans have been subjected to such embarrassing moments as if they are worse than dogs.

I remember somewhere in the late 1990s, a Ghanaian resident in Germany who was engaged with a white German woman and had a child by her was thrown out of that country. He was forced on the plane against the protestation of his girlfriend, bundled and chained behind like a shameless dog. The aircraft, unfortunately for the man, did not come to Accra directly. It had to go to Malta, a tiny European country.

The soldiers who accompanied him on the flight even refused to give him water to drink. They got to Accra and just dumped him and left. They were not arrested or anything. The man was rather kept in prison and locked up by the authorities.
It was only when he appeared on a radio programme than government foolishl

y came in, promising to take action. I didn’t hear anything and I wonder where the man currently is. I also remember how some British youths beat and killed a young Nigerian boy Demilola.

The boys behind his death nearly went off the hook until some immigrants decided to protest against the shameful mistreatment they often endure from the hands of the British authorities.I’m just reading another article on the BBC news website about the death of another African asylum seeker in Zurich, Switzerland.

The Swiss authorities, according to the report, are in the process of deporting more immigrants but had to halt the exercise following the death of the 29 year old man believed to be a Nigerian national. The man’s feet were shackled and forced, with 15 others, to a waiting aircraft. He however fell ill on Wednesday but the shackles were left to remain until he was took weak to look into the skies.

"They treated us like animals," said one, called Emmanuel.
"They shackled our feet, knees, hands, hips, arms and torso and made us wear a helmet like those worn by boxers. It was simply impossible to move," he was quoted by the BBC. .

Last year for example, the Swiss authorities made a special case to repatriate 43 persons from Switzerland, deporting some 360 people, mostly to the Balkans or Africa, according to the Swissinfo reports.

1 comment:

  1. Um...heck yes! You get into someone's country illegally, if they don't want you there, they'll kick you out, humane or inhumane, hello! Shackling deportees isn't unheard of (and humane or inhumane, I don't think those countries are going to stop anytime soon) and yes the swiss should have tended to him better, but what else do you expect - royal treatment?- they didn't want him there! Of course they weren't thinking about his health! I don't care about the swiss government - it's our governments own shame that life in our countries is so tough that people have to illegally go abroad and then die such a death at the hands of people who aren't interested in you. More like Nigeria's day of shame.

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