Borders, Migration and Xenophobic Policies in West Africa

The 1979 Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Protocol, or Article 59 of the 1993 ECOWAS Revised Treaty, encapsulates the terms and conditions for a visa-free and borderless economic community. It is geared towards decolonising the colonial borders and encouraging economic activity. But despite the ratification of the Protocol, documented and undocumented migrants continue to be expelled, blocked at borders and prevented from doing business, and suffer other xenophobic mistreatment, within the sub-region. The member states of ECOWAS have implemented anti-immigrant policies, from which Community citizens are rarely exempted. The article argues that the political class in the various states in the sub-region has nurtured and exploited a xenophobic consciousness, which has prevented the growth of class consciousness and protects their power base. The xenophobic policies of West African states have also created the necessary conditions to impede the implementation of the ECOWAS Protocol.