Whither the ECOWAS free movement protocols? Pandemic nationalism, borders, and migration in West Africa

From Glimmer to Grind: Unveiling the Conflict Potential beneath South Kalimantan's Diamonds

“…However, preserving tradition can also become a breeding ground for potential conflict. Competition for scarce resources within the community, often exacerbated by fluctuations in diamond prices [38], can breed envy, mistrust, and accusations of unfairness. Furthermore, the clash between traditional practices and modern regulations can lead to tensions with external authorities and disruptions in mining activities [8].…”

Introduction: migration and nationalism

“…), and we need to carefully try to disentangle these processes although they often are empirically interrelated in cases such as Brexit and the rise of right-wing political parties in say Austria, France, Hungary, or the United States. Lastly, if we stretch our eyes beyond 'western' countries, then there is also considerable evidence of post-colonial de-nationalism within African countries (Aniche et al, 2022). In sum, as Bieber (2018) writes, "There is no clear global trend that would suggest a rise of nationalism, but instead, there has been a rise of nationalist politics in some countries, either expressed by the rise of new parties, the electoral success of nationalist candidates or the shift of public discourse of established parties" (p. 529).…”

“…9 Such parties and movements have been categorized as nativist (Mudde, 2007;Betz, 2018) 10 or ethno-nationalist (Rydgren, 2005(Rydgren, , 2007, and they have framed immigrants as problems in at least four different ways (Rydgren, 2003a): first, as reiterated above, as a threat to ethnonational identity and/or as a threat to the 'white race' or Christianity; second, as a major cause of criminality and other kinds of social insecurity; third, as a cause of unemployment (e.g., Bustikova and Guasti on anti-immigrant political discourse in the Czech Republic, Chapter 10 in this book); and fourth, as abusers of the generosity of the welfare states of western democracies, which results in fewer state subsidies and other benefits for 'natives.' To this we may add a fifth frame: as purveyors of disease (that has given rise to 'coronationalism,' 'pandemic nationalism,' 'biopolitical nationalism,' and so forth (Aniche et al, 2022;De Kloet et al, 2020). The first two of these frames can be treated as a manifestation of the ethno-pluralist doctrine (i.e., that different ethnicities should not 'mix' lest cultural specificities disappear, and insecurity and crime increase), whereas the third and fourth frames can be treated as part of a welfare chauvinist doctrine in which immigrants and 'natives' are depicted as competing for limited economic resources.…”

Border Governance, Migration Securitisation, and Security Challenges in Nigeria

“…In effect, the securitisation of border governance and migration through the 2019 land border closure in Nigeria was largely against some relevant ECOWAS protocols, particularly the ECOWAS Protocol on Free Movement of Goods and Persons in West Africa (Aniche et al, 2022 ; Nwangwu et al, 2020 ). While it is unclear if any foreigner was arrested and/or prosecuted during the implementation of the land border closure policy, a major securitising effect the policy has had centres on the progressive increase in Nigeria’s defence and security budget due to the Boko Haram insurgency and the rising spate of banditry in Nigeria (Nwangwu, 2022a ; Onuoha et al, 2020 ).…”

“…As argued by Eroukhmanoff (2018), calling "immigration" a national security threat shifts it from a low-priority political concern to a high-priority issue that requires extraordinary security measures such as improved (land) border security or outright border closures. With particular reference to West Africa (and indeed, several other jurisdictions), pandemic nationalism was used by many memberstates of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) as a justification for the COVID-19 pandemic border closure policy and other anti-migrant policies in contravention of the ECOWAS free movement protocols (Aniche et al, 2022). By the same token, the security implications of climate change, especially in Africa, became visible in 2007 following debates by the African Union, the United Nations Security Council, and the Conference of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol.…”