While reading a book about water management in Yemen, I was surprised to learn that 6 centuries ago, people from Yemen were migrating from the Hejaz to what is present-day Ethiopia due to ecological distress. I also read about the Rashaida tribe (aka “Bani Rashid”) which followed a similar migratory pattern a hundred and fifty years ago in a large-sized coffee table book at the St. George Art Gallery. They currently live on the coastal areas of East Africa.
This question about the survival of the Yemeni people has haunted me since I have been following the heart-wrenching developments of the civil war. Many organizations focus on the lack of humanitarian intervention into this region from developed nations. Yet much less is discussed about the relationship between Yemen and Africa at large. The latter is considered relatively undeveloped, but provides assistance nonetheless through economic networks.
“Diaspora” has a complicated relationship with the nation-state. As Yemen strives to define its identity as a nation-state, with the Southern Transitional Council vying for prominence and calling for political autonomy, the survival of the diaspora is also a worthy subject of discussion a humanitarian and academic perspective.
Yemeni restaurants dot the urban spaces of Djibouti and Addis Ababa. The restaurants are generally popular among the upper-middle class of these respective cities. The restaurant-goers consume Yemeni culture in its aesthetics and food alongside a sense of Islamicate culture, such as designs of Yemeni architecture.
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A rather elaborate version of Yemeni fish. Source: internet |
The menu includes lamb as well as Yemeni fish, which is usually baked and served on a flat and dry surface. The restaurant "Bait al Mandi," located in the embassy-dotted Heron area of Djibouti, even had a French menu. This menu signified the class of the targeted clientele. As I ate in the "Al Pasha" restaurant, which is located in the former colonial space of Djibouti, a high ranking Djibouti military officer also was eating lunch to my left, as well as 4 abaya-wearing girls to my right. The girls self-consciously switched to communicate in French when they joined my table. The buffet at the up-scale Kempinski Hotel, near the shoreline, costs 45 dollars a person. This buffet also included the item of Yemeni fish. Through culinary heritage, Yemeni people find a way to maintain their economic independence through the upper echelons and aspiring classes of (Islamicate) Africa, without any handouts from (non-Muslim) developed nations.
This trend of perceptions of a certain diaspora, which differs from the way English media portrays them, also follows a China-related observation. Western development agencies pioneered the foreign presence in East Africa. Their buildings are usually gated and guarded with barb wire. Their cars are usually very clean and up-to-date in comparison with the dusty and slightly run-down city buses common people use for transportation. The general vibe of these agencies toward the area seems optimistic but also condescending, since their presence has been felt for decades. In contrast, China’s presence feels much more pragmatic: profit is the name of the game and hardcore construction capital accumulates, instead of the other abstract notion of “development.” While China also engages with similar efforts of development, such as poverty alleviation and disease preventions, other sectors do not shy away from the business element of China’s involvement in Africa. In Ethiopia, furthermore, many of the tiles on the street are distinctly from mainland China. To trace it even further back, Addis Ababa has socialist architecture harking back to a different type of internationalism than the current one led by development agencies. Yet development agencies and mainland China-led initiatives both share a secular bent and an emphasis on financial accountability. The ethical aspect of accountability and sociability can easily be lost in translation during the search for construction and development.
Both the China population and Yemeni diaspora do not fit in the dominant literature on foreigners in East Africa, and thus have drawn my attention. This article has discussed their presence in terms of urban consumption as well as racial identity. After the abolition of slavery in most parts of the world, the evolving identities of “Africa” can be indicated not only through skin or tribe, but also capital. Though capital accumulation is intertwined with racial identity around the globe, the native-foreign relationship cannot be distinctly drawn alongside the binary of exploitation. While welcoming populations seeking refuge such as the Yemeni people, nationalism is alive and well alongside capitalism in East Africa. As the PM of Ethiopia calls for importing more “zero-zero” standard of new cars instead of used cars from abroad, the role of the Chinese and other non-Ethiopian diaspora will need to find a new way of continuing their commercial relationship with Ethiopia.
