34th Burundi meeting: Diaspora as bridge builders

The 34th Burundi meeting of the Burundi Competence Center of the Baden-Württemberg Development Cooperation Foundation (SEZ) was under the theme “Diaspora – Expertise, Experience, Commitment”.

Both the host countries and the countries of origin benefit from the services provided by the members of the diaspora, said Astère Hatungimana from the Burundian Diaspora Association. “They contribute to the transfer of knowledge in both countries.” With a view to Baden-Württemberg’s partnership with Burundi, he expressed the expectation that the association will be involved as a bridge in the future. “We want to create a platform for Burundian and German companies so that they can network better and exchange ideas better. We expect the partnership to help us with our integration here in Germany or to provide us with know-how when we return to Burundi.”

Amin Hasanein from Islamic Relief Germany discussed the involvement of the diaspora in the country of origin. He highlighted the commitment of the Syrian diaspora in their homeland to help the victims of the civil war. According to Hasanein, the diaspora has cultural competence and contacts, which is an advantage in aid situations. The disadvantage is that, for example, there are no standards for work and in some cases there is little expertise among the members of the diaspora. But “it’s worth qualifying a diaspora association.”

Jeannot Ekobe from the Center for Transnational Migration examined the topic of diaspora from a social science perspective and spoke of a “problematic” term, which he criticized. According to his argument, it leads to a shift in the balance of power in development policy. And for members of the diaspora living in Germany, it means that they have to “justify their presence in Germany or their membership in German society in some way on a daily basis.”

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