COVID 19: Why Africans are Being Forced out of their Homes into the Streets in China

The loud outcry of Africans living in China against mass Coronavirus testing, forceful eviction from their homes, and arbitrary quarantine has become unbearable. This sudden turn of events by local authorities and the Chinese government has amplified various questions of racism and discrimination amidst the COVID 19 pandemic.

Why has the Chinese government suddenly become concerned with restricting the movement of black people? And what are African ambassadors as well as members of the black community doing to salvage the situation?

China has largely suppressed the spread of the virus, especially in the city of Wuhan where the Virus first emerged. Despite this, recent cases have been traced to an African community in China’s city of Guangzhou in the Yuexiu district popularly known as Little Africa.

Even though there have been growing concerns in China over the threat of important cases imminent within the Chinese community. It may appear that Africans living in China have become the victims of this fear which has led to racial profiling and abuse against most black people.

Local authorities in Ghanghoza had confirmed 114 imported Coronavirus

Cases. 16 of these cases were Africans, 5 were Nigerian nationals, while the others were returning Chinese nationals. According to the state media, These 114 cases are said to have had contact with 2,000 local individuals, who were forced to undergo quarantine, and were tested for COVID 19.

Amidst all this, Chinese locals are beginning to take out these uncouth fears on Africans in China who have had no travel history in the past month before the outbreak of the virus. Africans have become targets of suspicion, and distrust, which some have labeled as racism, and unjust discrimination. A reported statement released recently reveals that these measures were done only on members of the black community, as other Chinese locals and white people are exempted from these vast acts of injustice.

On 28 March, the government imposed a ban on all foreigners entering the country, including those with visas and residence permits. Despite this, Most Africans in the district have been forcefully evicted from their homes, turned out of hotels and restaurants, while others are placed on quarantine even after testing negative for the coronavirus. According to statements made from Africans who have become targets of these unfair measures, they’re being subjected to live on the streets and under bridges and forced out of their homes without being given a reason why.

“I’ve been sleeping under the bridge for four days with no food to eat… I cannot buy food anywhere, no shops or restaurants will serve me,” said Tony Mathias, an exchange student from Uganda who was forced from his apartment on Monday.

Thiam, an exchange student from Guinea, said police ordered him to stay home on Tuesday even after he tested negative for COVID 19 and told officers he had not left China in almost four years.

“All the people I’ve seen tested are Africans. Chinese are walking around freely but if you’re black you can’t go out,” he said.

This crazy fear displayed by the local Chinese community to the black community living in China has amplified into troll messages on social media. The infections in Guangzhou have sparked a torrent of abuse online, with many Chinese internet users posting racist comments and calling for all Africans to be deported.

Back home in Africa, videos were circulating on social media of very disturbing scenes and incidents involving Nigerians in the city of Guangzhou. The video showed Nigerians on the streets being evicted from their homes, hotels and safe places without any proper explanations.

Recently, McDonalds had released a notice that bans all black people from using their services in the Guangzhou district. The notice advises black people to seek “medical isolation” and notify the local police as they’re not allowed to enter into restaurants. This directive has become a “standard procedure” for Africans in China.

In the light of this discrimination, African ambassadors have written to the Chinese foreign minister to help check and curtail this growing menace against members of the black community. Several African countries have written directives to ensure that their citizens living in the southern city of Guangzhou district are free from any form of stigmatization and forcible eviction from their homes by their landlords.

Although the Chinese report had earlier stated that all foreigners are treated accordingly without any form of bias and discrimination, the case does not appear to be so. In the note released by the African ambassadors living in Beijing to State Councilor Wang Yi, the Chinese government’s top diplomat, copying the message to the chair of the African Union, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and all African foreign ministers. It stated that “stigmatization and discrimination” created the false impression that the virus was being spread by Africans, and demanded an abrupt end to forceful testing, quarantine, and other inhumane treatments received by Africans

France 24 reports further emphasizing that the ambassadors’ highlighted a number of reported incidents, including that Africans were being ejected from hotels in the middle of the night, the seizure of passports, and threats of visa revocation, arrest or deportation.

The Chinese ambassador’s response to these complaints was spontaneous, as he promptly promised to take it very seriously, and convey them to the right authorities.

in the statement published by Zhao Lijian, foreign ministry spokesman, he’d said:

“African friends can count on getting fair, just, cordial and friendly reception in China,” he said, adding the foreign ministry will stay in close communication with Guangdong authorities and address the “African side’s reasonable concerns and legitimate appeals”.

Ambassadors from several African countries in China have written to China’s foreign minister, demanding Beijing addresses their concerns about their citizens in the country.

Geoffrey Onyeama, Nigeria’s foreign minister, who had met with the Chinese ambassador to Nigeria, Zhou Pingjian, on Thursday, in his office in Abuja, had said the treatment of its citizens In China was “extremely distressing” and “unacceptable”.

China’s Foreign Ministry has promised to ensure that there is no bias and non-differentiated health and social care provision for Africans.

“All foreigners are treated equally. We reject differential treatment, and we have zero tolerance for discrimination.”

All images are sourced from Unsplash