«Any small thing Ugandans do, they will kill you». A study of xenophobia towards Ugandan traders in South Sudan.

Abstract

Anti-immigrant hostility is on the rise in many parts of the world. The escalation of hate crimes and hate speech against international migrants witnessed in receiving societies points towards a climate of increasing intolerance and enmity. The phenomenon has received considerable attention in the social sciences over the past decades. However, more often than not, anti-immigrant hostility is treated as a problem that affects countries in Europe and North America, while the drivers of anti-immigrant hostility in the global south remains largely overlooked. This study aims to address this blind spot in the literature. Informed by empirical evidence gathered through fieldwork in Gulu, Northern Uganda this thesis investigates the drivers of xenophobia towards Ugandan migrant workers in South Sudan. In accordance with the existing theoretical literature about drivers of anti-immigrant hostility, the findings of this study reveals that the perceived negative impact of Ugandans on the economic interests and cultural values of the South Sudanese motivate hostile reactions towards them. However, the most popular theories of anti-immigrant hostility fall short in explaining why this reaction is sometimes a violent one. This study argues that greater attention must be devoted to the wider context of violence, within which xenophobia takes place. In South Sudan, it is because the negative attitudes takes place in a context where violent problem-solving is the norm, that the reaction is sometimes a violent one.