外国人排斥の行動か、どうか

　南アフリカ・ヨハネスブルクで暴動。外国人所有のお店を中心に略奪、車が放火されて数十名からが逮捕される。

BBC Dozens arrested in South Africa as looting rocks Johannesburg 2 Sep 2019

　警察は催涙弾をつかったりして暴徒を散らそうとした。外国人嫌いというよりは犯罪だねえ、というのが警察長官の見立て。

「Dozens of people have been arrested in the South African city of Johannesburg after rioters looted shops and torched buildings and vehicles.

Police fired tear gas, rubber bullets and stun grenades in an attempt to quell the unrest on Monday.

Many of the targeted shops are reported to be owned by foreign nationals.

But the country's police minister, Bheki Cele, said "criminality rather than xenophobia" was to blame for the "senseless violence".」

　しかしそんなコメントが出ること自体、すでにxenophobiaが行き渡っている傍証ともいえる。ここしばらくxenophobia的な犯罪行動が多く見られる由。外国人所有のお店に対する略奪が日常茶飯事みたいになっちゃってるというのは、もはや―

　―そりゃあまあsenselessな犯罪行為ではあろうが、そうであってもなお対象が選定されているあたり、略奪行為と外国人排斥の奇妙な混合物といわざるを得まい。

「South Africa has seen a spate of xenophobic attacks in recent months. In March, three people died during protests that targeted foreign-owned shops in Durban.」

「The looting of foreign-owned shops in South Africa is becoming a daily occurrence and there is no sign of it stopping soon.」

「Many people have been asking why black South Africans are attacking other Africans. There is no easy answer to this, but it does seem like a combination of straightforward thuggery and xenophobia.」

「But the unrest here is largely an immigration issue. The unemployment rate in South Africa is nearly 28% and this places huge pressure on the lower end of the social ladder.」

　28%もの失業率。だが、これでも南部アフリカにおいては経済優等生の部類であって、周辺諸国から出稼ぎがあつまり、これが賃金の押し下げ要因になり…。教科書みたいなパターンである。

　追加

BBC Letter from Africa: Nigerian anger over South African xenophobia 29 August 2019

「Animosity between Africa's two superpowers - Nigeria and South Africa - has heightened in recent weeks, with an influential Nigerian student body demanding that all South African-owned businesses leave the West African state.

The National Association of Nigerian Students (Nans) - which represents university students at campuses across the country - has picketed branches of South African telecoms giant MTN, and those of supermarket chain Shoprite, turning away staff and customers.

Those protests were sparked by the death of a Nigerian woman who was reportedly strangled in her hotel room during a visit to the South African city of Johannesburg.」

　思うに日韓関係はまあ、かわいいもんじゃないか、という。とりあえず先日のナンパ失敗暴行男は殴る蹴るくらいで留まったし、対韓ボイコット運動はウチの国では、あったとしてもろくに勢力が無い。なんか先方では結構盛り上がっているらしいが。

「"They are arrogant and they don't know how to talk to people, especially Nigerians," South African protesters wrote in a petition to their ministry of home affairs during an anti-immigration march in the capital, Pretoria, in 2017.

Nigerians, on the other hand, believe that South Africans are simply jealous of us. Of our self confidence, and our ability to thrive and outshine.」

「あいつらは我々に嫉妬してる…！」もう、ほれぼれとするほど教科書的ではないか。いや、こんなのないほうがよいのだが。

「The tension between the two nations brings to mind a proverb in the Igbo language about a man who lays his pile of clothing by the riverbank while skinny dipping: A naked madman comes along, grabs the clothes and dashes away. Desperate to retrieve his clothes, the other man jumps out of the river in the nude and chases after the madman. Two naked men running through the streets - who, then, is the madman?」

　分るか、こんなん。
　いえまあ、ともかく、日韓関係がぎくしゃくする昨今、大変に参考事例として興味深いところではないか。