The refugee crisis in Africa as a crisis of the institution of the state

Abstract

Scarcely any State in Africa is currently spared from the effects of refugee exodus or internal displacement. In the author's view, these problems are largely due to fundamental internal contradictions within the African State, which can only be rectified by changes in structures and institutions. This situation in turn follows from the fact that African States are largely modelled on colonial institutions, with little regard for the continent's peculiarities, and the weaknesses result from the common practice among colonial powers to exclude ethnic factors, both during the partitioning of the continent, and in its later management. The paper reviews the geographical and regional patterns of Africa's refugee crisis, provides examples of State failure and resulting refugee movements, and shows why those problems remain unsolved. The crisis in Africa, says the author, is a crisis of the institution of the State, which in turn is the product of African States' inability to attain a functional balance, both in terms of societal satisfaction and juridical viability; coupled with the inability of the State to distribute resources equitably between the various ethnic nationalities, this creates internal conflict which in turn breaks up the institution of the State. © 1994 Oxford University Press.