China is back to its older ideology – Nationalism and Xenophobia (‘dislike of or prejudice against people from other countries’). In an epoch where almost every country is facing this pandemic, Chinese authorities have forcibly evicted the Africans living in Guangzhou. Africans have also proclaimed that they were discriminated against and had to go through compulsory testing and a mandatory 14-day quarantine.
Not only this, students and expatriates who stay at “Little Africa” (a part of the city where Africans live) were asked to stay inside their homes irrespective of their travel history or medical reports. They were also left homeless without warning and were refused entries to restaurants. It’s all a part of the Xenophobic Campaign against blacks! The campaign seemingly aims to curb the transmission of COVID-19. One of the residents of Little Africa revealed that their stay is not permanent these days. The landlord can anytime ask you to pack up and leave the house. If you collect all the strength to argue, the landlord tells you that the same has been ordered by the authorities and has received a quick notice for you to leave the house. Sometimes, Africans in China are forced to pay extra. If they don’t agree to pay extra, they won’t have a roof on their heads.
With things getting back to normal gradually, China and its residents are afraid of the second wave of the virus that could be brought back to the country by overseas travelers. However, Africans ex-pats living in Guangzhou claim that this treatment has nothing to do with reining the virus’ spread. It’s mostly related to the Xenophobic Campaign against Africans. Last month, China banned entry to all foreigners. However, going by the facts, 90% of the new COVID-19 cases that are emerging in the country, returned from places such as Iran, Italy, and the United States. About 98 of the new cases from abroad that were reported on Monday, all were Chinese nationals coming back to the country from Russia.
Many of the Africans have been ordered home-quarantined for the second time. Ogbonna is quarantined twice in his apartment. He completed his first 14-day quarantine in March after coming back from Nigeria. On April 8, he was kept in isolation again, although he was tested negative for COVID-19 and did not travel anywhere after March. People in African counterparts are outrageous and exhibiting their anger & resentment on social media.
One of the Chinese officials in Beijing claimed that all actions are being taken to prevent the health & life of foreign nations in China. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian told the media that “We treat all foreigners in China equally and we don’t promote discrimination in any sort of campaign” on Monday. Severely affected by the coronavirus pandemic, African nations are now requesting and pushing China to pull away some of the debt that they have not paid lately. According to Retuers report, Beijing is most likely to accept an agreement that freezes the debt payments of 20 major African countries.
