Editor,

RE: "Europeans don’t get it” (The New Times, November 15).

Sophie Kamya has written a very articulate piece and I’m sure that it reflects the opinion of many, but I believe it’s high time for us Africans to stop behaving like crying babies.

First, where is the leadership of AU? Is this organisation even relevant in the first place on these critical issues? How come millions of our able brothers and sisters are leaving the continent via new slave trade routes and all we come up with are empty statements and endless rhetoric?

Now we are begging EU for €1 billion in order to give our people opportunities on our continent.

What we need in Africa are big infrastructure projects, multiple factories, more trade between our African countries and strong leaders who are creating opportunities for their people and who are accountable.

The title of this article should have been: "Africans don’t get it”.

Europeans do get it—this is cheap labour coming their way; they will exploit it continuously to their advantage. It’s the new slavery. Africans, let’s wake up and stop dreaming.

Al

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It’s a shame that African leaders are taking money to repatriate their own people running away from poverty and political instability. The focus should be on combating the real causes behind the immigration. Those so called African leaders are partly responsible for the mass immigration of their youth and should be busy working on strategies to empower these desperate young people.

If the West is really interested in curbing immigration it should first cease its unfair trade imbalances with Africa, stop their role in illicit financial flows from Africa, stop interfering in African internal affairs that lead to further instability... That money is an insult to African dignity.

Ndoli Sabi