Asians Panic

KENYA'S Asians are caught in a racial squeeze play: Black Africa wants them out and White Britain refuses to let them in. The panicked scramble to get to England before last month's passage of Britain's Commonwealth Immigration Act left the Asians embittered and confused, created havoc in Kenya's economy, and doomed prospects for good race relations within Britain. All three races--Brown, Black, and White--are responsible for the crisis.

The first of the Asian immigrants, indentured laborers on the Uganda Railway, were followed by thousands of enterprising countrymen, who became traders, clerks, and accountants, and who boosted East Africa's fledgling economy by penetrating the interior with their box-like "duka" shops. Under British control they occupied middle-level administrative jobs and monopolized many areas in trade and commerce.

However, their position as a political-economic buffer group between the British and the Africans engendered animosity from both sides. Africans especially resented Asians for holding the semi-skilled jobs denied them and for growing wealthy by selling to Africans. Moreover, the Africans had little opportunity to meet and understand the Asians, who cloistered in tight communities and shunned intermarriage. Asian contacts with Africans were either on a master-servant or trader-buyer relationship.

"Uhuru," independence, in 1963 ushered in a new Kenya. Africans became the wielders of political power; Asians were given the choice between Kenyan citizenship or the full rights of British subjects. Some Asians, particularly the Ishmaeli community, put their hopes in an integrated society and applied for Kenyan citizenship. But the majority of Asians, roughly 100,000 out of about 160,000, took the British option. With vivid memories of the slaughter of Arabs on the nearby island of Zanzibar in 1962, they feared future instances of African racism and xenophobia. Also, it was clear that the sluggish economy could not create enough jobs for both Black and Brown. Asians planned to stay in Kenya as long as their jobs or business lasted, for they knew that British citizenship offered them a place to go if they had to leave Africa.

Few Asians left Kenya during the first years of Uhuru, since Africanization of jobs took place slowly. Only last autumn did political pressure to place Africans in the main fields of Asian activity lead to new restrictions. Determined to break the Asian hold on trade and semi-skilled jobs, the African-dominated Government required all non-citizens to have working permits and all traders and merchants to have licenses. Discrimination figured in many cases--permits were granted slowly, often for very short periods, and the awarding of licenses openly favored Africans, even if the Asians were citizens. The Government's solution to the "racial problem" was simply to remove most of the Asians. One Kenya minister remarked, "If I were an Asian non-citizen I'd leave tonight." A steady flow of emigrants--perhaps 10-20,000 a year for the next three years--was expected.

THEN the British bombshell turned a steady flow into a torrent. Ignited by Conservatives looking for a campaign issue, rumors spread that hordes of colored immigrants were about to descend on British shores. These reports in turn sparked rumors in Nairobi that the British were going to limit immigration. Last month Parliament bowed to British public opinion and passed the Common-wealth Immigration Act.

The panicked exodus of Asians trying to beat the deadline dealt the Kenyan economy a severe blow. Demand has dropped sharply along with heavy capital losses--an average of 5000 pounds follows every Asian family that leaves Kenya.

However, the racial friction will be more lasting than the economic loss. The situation of Asians in Kenya was not good, but the British needlessly exacerbated it. The Commonwealth Immigration Act was unnecessary because the British passport only meant security to a majority of Asians. Many of them fully expected to return to India or Pakistan. The younger and more educated hoped to remain in Kenya while they could, then move to Britain or other Commonwealth countries. The Asians who wished to leave are now stateless or at best reluctant residents of Kenya. African animosity is certain to increase, and ironically more Asians will leave in the long run than if the British had done nothing.

Clearly the recent crisis is the fault of the British, but the racial tension is the fault of the Africans. They have made the Asians victims of a racism--Black against Brown--which has little to do with White tyranny.