Congo in Kenya: Why Xenophobia is a Racist Ideal
Election
Originally published by The Elephant — Read the original article →
Thirty-three-year-old Emmanuel is a freelance hairdresser in Nairobi. He is a refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo and has lived in Kenya for six years.
The young man is chic, dressed in designer brands, with a gentle demeanour that reflects his customer-care style in the city’s beauty industry. His calm, collected appearance belies a history of strife, struggle, and an ongoing effort to recover from the decades of armed conflict he witnessed as a child in North Kivu.
‘I will never forget the night when rebels attacked our village in North Kivu. I must have been seven years old at that time. Some people were killed, and there was fire burning everywhere around us.’
