While Namibians in the diplomatic sphere might talk up the country’s international prowess, as an equal on the world stage, this week’s suspension of Namibia’s visa-free entry status by the British government, once again shows how the global superpowers continue showing scant regard for their poorer cousins in the global south.
The British High Commission in Windhoek said in a statement: “With immediate effect, all Namibian nationals will need a visa before travelling to the UK, including to visit.”
The statement said since 2016 there has been a significant and sustained increase of Namibian nationals at UK’s borders. This, the statement said, constitutes an abuse of the provisions to visit the UK for a limited period as non-visa nationals.
Namibia was the UK’s 136th largest trading partner, accounting for less than 0.1% of total UK trade.
It is an open secret that Namibians have targeted the UK and Canada to flee poverty and abuse because of those countries’, up to now, liberal approach to asylum seekers. Namibians have claimed, often falsely, that they are being persecuted at home for their lifestyle or political views when applying for asylum.
Between 2008 and 2021 Namibian nationals made 1 319 asylum claims in the UK. Of those claims, 1 163 were made from 2017.
The increased numbers and Britain’s tilt towards harsher immigration policies after Brexit have conspired to not only show how fragile Namibia’s standing in the world is, but also how grossly racist, unfair and single-minded Western countries can be.
The UK left the European Union in January 2020 after a fraught 2016 referendum. While Brexit has been described as an “unmitigated disaster” that left the UK with as many as 330 000 job vacancies, that country remains attractive to jobless youth. Around half of this country’s young people are unemployed.
The availability of jobs, coupled with the favourable exchange rate and the high unemployment rate locally should have alerted officials in both countries to revive the working holiday programme that was popular in the 1990s. Namibians could go to work in the UK for two years. However, Namibians also abused this programme and it was discontinued.
While Brexit has stalled investment and left many vacant posts, hence rising wages, high inflation and increased interest rates, this self-inflicted disaster has had a clear negative impact on Great Britain. However, the rightwing Conservative government of that country persevered with policies and programmes they feel the country’s citizens voted for in the referendum.
The Namibian government should show that it too can make unilateral decisions on issues Namibians feel strongly about.
Since the discovery of oil and the announcement of the country’s green hydrogen plans, Namibia has been the flavour of the month in the international community. The country has seen more foreign ministers and heads of state visiting to make sure their interests are taken care of.
We should do the same.
While Namibia cannot do anything about another country’s domestic political decisions, we can however, make decisions that will benefit our people and the economy. Namibia, just as any other country, should put its interest first in any dealings with other countries and international organisations and treaties. We cannot continue to outsource our responsibility towards our young people to, hopefully, benevolent foreign investors. We should use what we have to help our own people.
It should start by beneficiating natural resources before they are exported to any country. This could create many more jobs, expand the economy and make us less reliant on external partners who only see us as a third-world burden.