Cameroonian author, Massocki Ma Massocki, granted an interview to Deraso Dokhole, ambasassadress of the African Capitals of Culture in East Africa, co-founder of Highway Education, a Kenyan-Canadian organization that stretches from Kenya to Somalia and founder of A Day As A Refugee, a nongovernmental organization whose main goal is to look into the living standard of every refugee and carrying out research and coming up with reasonable solutions to tackle the refugee crisis. Dokhole showcases the daily struggles of refugees in Africa and also point out various struggles of refugees around the Globe.
The interview focuses on Massocki’s upcoming book, ‘ The Pride of an African Migrant’ due for publication on May 4, 2020 and already available for pre-order on amazon.
Deraso: What inspired you to write about the late Jimmy Mubenga?
Massocki Ma Massocki: Most Africans consider Europe to be an El Dorado, a land filled with opportunity, to such extent that they are ready to risk their lives to enter Europe. Because of this, every year, the terrifying Mediterranean Sea claims the lives of at least 5,000 African migrants en route to Europe and they are held captives, auctioned and subjected to slavery in Libya. The life of Jimmy Mubenga like the lives of many other African migrants in Europe characterised by homelessness, hunger, torture, imprisonment, assassinations, suicide and many more, is evidence that the El Dorada that Africans see in Europe is an illusion, hence they should stop risking their lives to follow unfounded dreams of traveling to Europe. Mubenga was tortured and killed while resisting his deportation. The book also aims to remind the UK of the present situation so that they would strive to attain what they claim to be an ideal practise of human rights—a harmonious state of coexistence. Moreover, this is a call upon organisations such as the UNHCR and the UNHCHR to provide accurate assessments of how countries treat their inhabitants and perform their job, which is to protect human rights.
Deraso: According to you do countries that have ratified to the1951 refugee convention that provides the principle of non-refoulment adheres to it?
Massocki Ma Massocki: It is very difficult for powerful and rich countries like the UK to abide by the non-refoulment principle contained in article 33 of the refugee convention for many reasons: They are rich, they can afford to deport those who are unwanted, they have a budget to get rid of those who are undesirable. They are powerful meaning they cannot be coerced by international organizations and they are the main contributors to those international organisations that are supposed to guarantee fundamental human rights.
Kindly click the link below for the full interview
http://adayasarefugee.com/2020/03/26/the-pride-of-an-african-migrant-by-massocki-ma-massocki/