IRIN Africa GHANA: Police crackdown on migrant Fulani herdsmen West Africa Burkina Faso Ghana Mali Togo Environment Food Security Governance Human Rights Migration News Item
I find the conflict between nomadic and settled people fascinating and not discussed often enough. Nomads, often seen as outsiders by settled communities, are often blamed for various crimes, usually robbery, rape, and killing/sacrificing and/or abducting children. It is easier to blame someone outside of one's settled community than it is to look inside the community for the perpetrators. The result is two-fold, one the outsiders are consistently vilified and two, the persons truly responsible for committing the crimes are never held accountable.
This phenomenon happens around the world, think of the Roma in Europe and also resettled communities around the United States.
I remember being in Florida staying with parents of a friend when a number of robberies occurred in a small town where everyone knew everyone else. Roma in the United States often spend winters in Florida during the circus off-season. Before even looking at the facts everyone immediately blamed the "Gypsies" and pretty much drove them out of town.
Of course, either the Fulani did it or a bunch of Losso in a spirit plane. Sheesh. No need to look any further.
I'm not saying these groups are completely innocent either, but sometimes these accusations become self-fulfilling prophecies, "well if I keep getting blamed for it, I might as well do it."
The orphaned children in Johannesburg are the same way. No one helps them because they are believed to be "tsotsis" so they start robbing because there's no other way to get food and people already think they're tsotsis.
Human nature will never cease to fascinate me. . .
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3 comments:
Don't want to rain on your parade, but I was a PCV in Kara 2003-2005 and also had the same appreciation for the Fulani but recent events have changed me. I worked near Kano, Nigeria last year and the Fulani there have turned militant (possibly as a foil for AQN) but they have massacred 1000's in Northern Nigeria recently.
You're not raining on my parade at all! I don't think that the nomads are always right and peaceful and they are unnecessarily being persecuted -- though that happens. What I'm saying is that when people keep blaming a group for things that they didn't do, the group starts doing them anyway because what is the difference? I'm interested to hear about what's been happening in Northern Nigeria. I will look it up right away.
Thanks for the info!
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