The Expulsion of West African Aliens

Margaret Peil

doi:10.1017/S0022278X00024903

The Expulsion of West African Aliens

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 November 2008

Margaret Peil

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In many West African countries there are large numbers of foreigners who have settled down to live and work or who come periodically to help harvest the crops. These aliens may be seen, from one point of view, as a useful and willing labour force, and a politically passive group requiring little in the way of services, or, from another viewpoint, as an insupportable drain on an economy which is not able to supply jobs for local people, and a source of political conflict because they have no allegiance to the ruling government. The growth in the economic power of Lebanese businessmen and local reactions to this competition have been ably discussed;1 this article will be concerned with African aliens, who are present in far greater numbers than the Lebanese and whose position has become increasingly insecure in recent years.

Type: Article
Information: The Journal of Modern African Studies , Volume 9 , Issue 2 , August 1971 , pp. 205 - 229

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022278X00024903 [Opens in a new window]
Copyright: Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1971

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References

^{Page 205 note 1} See Hanna, M., ‘The Lebanese in West Africa’, in West Africa (London), nos. 2141, 2142, and 2144, 1958Google Scholar; Khuri, F. I., ‘Kinship, Emigration, and Trade Partnership among the Lebanese of West Africa’, in Africa (London), XXXV, 1965, pp. 385–95Google Scholar; Stanley, W. R., ‘The Lebanese of Sierra Leone: entrepreneurs extraordinary’, in Urban African Notes (East Lancing), V, 1970, pp. 159–74Google Scholar; and Winder, R. B., ‘The Lebanese in West Africa’, in Comparative Studies in Society and History (The Hague), IV, 1962, pp. 296–333.Google Scholar

^{Page 205 note 2} Skinner, E. P., ‘Strangers in West African Societies’, in Africa, XXXII, 1963, pp. 307–20.CrossRef Google Scholar

^{Page 206 note 1} Sada, P. O., ‘Politics and Migration: a study of some aspects of economic development problems in West Africa’; paper presented at the West African Regional Conference of Commonwealth Geographers, University of Ghana, 1970, p. 11.Google Scholar

^{Page 206 note 2} Africa Diary (New Delhi), VII, 1967, pp. 1013 and 3582Google Scholar; VIII, 1968, p. 3898.

^{Page 206 note 3} The Daily Graphic (Accra), 1 11 1969.Google Scholar

^{Page 206 note 4} The Ghanaian Times (Accra), 8 12 1969.Google Scholar

^{Page 206 note 5} The Daily Graphic, 3 January 1970.

^{Page 206 note 6} Only 40,000 residence permits were issued between November 1969 and the following June; The Ghanaian Times, 18 June 1970.

^{Page 207 note 1} Rouch, J., ‘Migration au Ghana, 1953–55’, in Journal de la société des africanistes (Paris), XXVI, 1956.Google Scholar

^{Page 207 note 2} Stapleton, G. B., ‘Nigerians in Ghana’, in West Africa, no. 2184, 1959, p. 175.Google Scholar

^{Page 208 note 1} Cohen, A., Custom and Politics in Urban Africa (London, 1969).Google Scholar

^{Page 208 note 2} Pfefferman, G., Industrial Labour in the Republic of Senegal (New York, 1968), p. 42Google Scholar; and Oliver, H. A., Report on the Census of Population of the Gambia taken on 17th/18th April, 1963 (Bathurst, 1965).Google Scholar

^{Page 208 note 3} 1960 Population Census of Ghana (Accra, 1964), vol. IV,Google Scholar table 15, and Special Report A, table 15; see also N. O. Addo, ‘Immigration into Ghana: some social and economic implications of the Aliens Decree Order of 18th November, 1969’; paper presented at a Sociology Department seminar, University of Ghana, 1970, p. 10.

^{Page 209 note 1} Côted'Ivoire, Population (Abidjan: Ministère du plan, Etudes régionales: 1962–1965,Google Scholar synthèse), table 40; Etude socio-économique de la zone urbaine d'Abidjan (Paris, 1964), tables 2.1.30–31.Google Scholar

^{Page 209 note 2} Situation économique de la Côte d'Ivoire, 1966 (Abidjan, 1967), table E5.Google Scholar

^{Page 209 note 3} Oliver, op. cit., and Jarrett, H. R., ‘The Strange Farmers of the Gambia’, in The Geographical Review (New York), XXXIX, 1949.Google Scholar

^{Page 209 note 4} Census of Sierra Leone, 1963 (Freetown, 1965), vol. II, tables 4 and 5.Google Scholar

^{Page 209 note 5} Census of Liberia (Monrovia, 1962), table 6.Google Scholar

^{Page 210 note 1} The Daily Graphic, 13 December 1969.

^{Page 210 note 2} Pfefferman, op. cit. p. 43.

^{Page 210 note 3} Census of Sierra Leone, vol. III in, table 4.Google Scholar

^{Page 210 note 4} Cited in Clignet, R., ‘Some Preliminary Notes on a Study of Unemployment in Modern African Urban Centers’, in Manpower and Unemployment Research in Africa: a newsletter (Montreal), II, 1969, p. 28.Google Scholar

^{Page 210 note 5} Citedin Gutkind, P.C.W., ‘The Energy of Despair’, in Civilisations (Brussels), XVII, 1967, p. 6.Google Scholar

^{Page 210 note 6} 1960 Population Census of Ghana, Special Report A, tables 5 and 17.

^{Page 210 note 7} In 1967, there were 361,355 employed persons in Ghana (11 per cent of them aliens), excluding cocoa labourers, diamond diggers, and domestic servants; Ghana, Labour Statistics, 1967 (Accra, 1968).Google Scholar The number has remained fairly stable in recent years. Since the majority of the population are self-employed farmers, traders, and craftsmen, who cannot technically be considered unemployed, andsince studies of school leavers indicate that the great majority find some work within two years of leaving school, it seems highly unlikely that the number of unemployed is anywhere near the figure stated.

^{Page 210 note 8} The Daily Graphic, 30 January 1970.

^{Page 211 note 1} 1960 Population Census of Ghana, vol. IV, tables 7 and 19.Google Scholar

^{Page 211 note 2} Africa Diary, III, 1963, p.1228.Google Scholar

^{Page 212 note 1} Press conference, 14 November 1969. I am grateful to P. Kennedy for notes on his interview with Y. Dankyi-Awere.

^{Page 213 note 1} The Daily Graphic, 5 January 1970.

^{Page 213 note 2} The Ghanaian Times, 9 June 1970.

^{Page 213 note 3} The Daily Graphic, 12 June 1970.

^{Page 213 note 4} The Ghanaian Times, 11 September 1970.

^{Page 213 note 5} Bell, C., ‘The Politics of Tribal Feeling’, in New Society (London), no. 430, 1970, p. 1224.Google Scholar

^{Page 214 note 1} The Ghanaian Times, 10 December 1970.

^{Page 214 note 2} West African Annual, 1967 (Lagos, 1967), p. 356.Google Scholar

^{Page 214 note 3} Ghana, Official Report, 1957 (Accra, 1958), p. 64.Google Scholar

^{Page 214 note 4} The Ghanaian Times, 4 December 1969.

^{Page 215 note 1} ‘Kontopiat’, Legon Observer (Accra), v, 3, 1970, pp. 18–19.Google Scholar

^{Page 215 note 2} The Daily Graphic, 12 December 1969.

^{Page 215 note 3} Ibid. 12 January 1970.

^{Page 215 note 4} The Ghanaian Times, 20 August 1970; and The Pioneer (Kumasi), 30 12 1969.Google Scholar

^{Page 216 note 1} The Ghanaian Times, 24 June 1970.

^{Page 216 note 2} Weekly Spectator (Accra), 12 September 1970.

^{Page 216 note 3} The Daily Graphic, 1 November 1969; see also Sada, op. cit. for other examples.

^{Page 216 note 4} The Ghanaian Times, 17 September 1970.

^{Page 216 note 5} The Daily Graphic, 12 January 1970.

^{Page 216 note 6} The Ghanaian Times, 7 January 1970.

^{Page 216 note 7} Ibid. 15 December 1969.

^{Page 216 note 8} The Daily Graphic, 24 October 1969.

^{Page 216 note 9} Schildkrout, E., ‘Strangers and Local Government in Kumasi’, in The Journal of Modern African Studies (Cambridge), VIII, 2, 1970, p. 258.Google Scholar

^{Page 217 note 1} Skinner, op. cit. p. 313.

^{Page 217 note 2} Schildkrout, op. cit. p. 269.

^{Page 217 note 3} The Daily Graphic, 23 December 1969.

^{Page 217 note 4} Rouch, op. cit.

^{Page 218 note 1} The Daily Graphic, 8 October 1969.

^{Page 218 note 2} Ibid. 5 December 1969.

^{Page 218 note 3} Ibid. 8 December 1969.

^{Page 218 note 4} Ibid. 13 December 1969.

^{Page 218 note 5} The Pioneer, 7 January 1970.

^{Page 218 note 6} Ibid. 19 January 1970.

^{Page 218 note 7} The Daily Graphic, 11 December 1969.

^{Page 218 note 8} ‘Our prison records show that…90% of those in prison, especially for criminal things like robbery with violence and so on, were aliens.’ Dr Busia went on to say that there were 170 aliens in the country with criminal records. These had been arrested and deported. He also referred to unemployment. His clinching argument was, ‘Can you enter Britain at all without a permit?’ Ibid. 19 January 1970.

^{Page 219 note 1} Jones-Quartey, K. A. B. in Legon Observer, IV, 1970, p. 26,Google Scholar and Addo, op. cit.

^{Page 219 note 2} Ghana: Prisons Department Annual Report on Treatment of Offenders (Accra, 1966).Google Scholar

^{Page 219 note 3} Busia, K. A., Report on a Social Survey of Sekondi/Takoradi (London, 1950), pp. 107 and 85.Google Scholar

^{Page 220 note 1} Som, R. K., ‘Some Demographic Indicators for Africa’, in Caldwell, J. C. and Okonjo, C. (eds.), The Population of Tropical Africa (London, 1968), p. 293.Google Scholar

^{Page 220 note 2} The Ghanaian Times, 7 January 1970.

^{Page 221 note 1} Yoloye, E. A., ‘Educational Exchange between West African Countries’, in West African Journal of Education (Ibadan), XIV, 3, 1970, p. 172.Google Scholar

^{Page 221 note 2} University of Ghana: Statistics, 1967–8 (Legon, 1968, mimeo.)Google Scholar

^{Page 221 note 3} 1960 Population Census of Ghana, Special Report A, table 14.

^{Page 222 note 1} It has been found from a study of census tracts in Accra and Abidjan that foreign-born Africans were well scattered throughout both cities. Clignet, R. and Sween, J., ‘Accra and Abidjan: a comparative examination of the theory of increase in scale’, in Urban Affairs Quarterly (Beverly Hills), IV, 1969, p. 310.Google Scholar

^{Page 222 note 2} Peil, M., ‘Reactions to Housing: a survey of Tema’, in Ghana Journal of Sociology (Accra), IV, 1968, p. 3.Google Scholar

^{Page 222 note 3} The Ghanaian Times, 13 January 1970.

^{Page 222 note 4} Ibid. 7 September 1970.

^{Page 222 note 5} Duodu, Cameron, in The Daily Graphic, 17 01 1970.Google Scholar

^{Page 223 note 1} 1960 Population Census of Ghana, vol. III.

^{Page 223 note 2} The Daily Graphic, 19, 13, and 23 01 1970.Google Scholar

^{Page 223 note 3} Ibid. 3 January 1970.

^{Page 223 note 4} The Ghanaian Times, 9 January 1970.

^{Page 223 note 5} Ibid. 22 June 1970.

^{Page 223 note 6} The Pioneer, 16 December 1969; The Ghanaian Times, 28 November 1969.

^{Page 223 note 7} The Ghanaian Times, 23 December 1969.

^{Page 223 note 8} Ibid. 7 January 1970.

^{Page 223 note 9} Ibid. 29 November 1969.

^{Page 223 note 10} Ibid. 30 June 1970.

^{Page 223 note 11} Ibid. 28 November 1969.

^{Page 223 note 12} Ibid. 27 November 1969.

^{Page 225 note 1} The Ghanaian Times, 3 December 1969.

^{Page 225 note 2} The Pioneer, 16 January 1970.

^{Page 225 note 3} The Daily Graphic, 17 July 1970.

^{Page 225 note 4} NC̄ 15–20 was the price charged in the Volta Region; The Ghanaian Times, 28 January 1970.

^{Page 225 note 5} The Daily Graphic, 23 January 1970.

^{Page 225 note 6} The Ghanaian Times, 5 September 1970.

^{Page 226 note 1} The Daily Graphic, 10 June 1970.

^{Page 226 note 2} Ibid. 17 December 1969.

^{Page 226 note 3} The Ghanaian Times, 8 and 15 December 1969.

^{Page 226 note 4} The Daily Graphic, 11 June 1970.

^{Page 226 note 5} Ibid. 3 December 1969.

^{Page 227 note 1} The Ghanaian Times, 6 August 1970.

^{Page 227 note 2} The Daily Graphic, 4 August 1970.

^{Page 227 note 3} Addo, op. cit. p. 22.

^{Page 227 note 4} The Daily Graphic, 7 August 1970.

^{Page 227 note 5} Ibid. 16 Desember 1969.

^{Page 227 note 6} Ibid. 17 Desember 1969.

^{Page 227 note 7} Ibid. 10 Desember 1969.

^{Page 227 note 8} The Ghanaian Times, 29 Desember 1969.

^{Page 227 note 9} West Africa, no. 2794, 1970, p. 1515.Google Scholar

^{Page 228 note 1} The Pioneer, 28 January 1970.

^{Page 228 note 2} The Daily Graphic, 11 August 1970.

^{Page 228 note 3} The Ghanaian Times, 2 Desember 1969 and 21 January 1970.

^{Page 229 note 1} The Daily Graphic, 18 Desember 1969.

^{Page 229 note 2} Ibid. June 1970.

^{Page 229 note 3} Ibid. 6 July 1970.

^{Page 229 note 4} Skinner, loc. cit. p. 319.

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