There have been a startling number of reports coming out of major cities in China that African immigrants are being mistreated, discriminated against and evicted by Chinese businesses and government officials due to unfounded concerns about the spread of the coronavirus.

In an effort to help some of those affected, Ugandan musician and opposition politician Robert Kyagulanyi, also known as Bobi Wine, announced via Twitter that he's teaming up with AtlantaBlackStar.com founder Neil Nelson to airlift Africans out of China as soon as possible.


For the last two weeks, dozens of videos have leaked to social media showing Africans in Guangzhou and other Chinese cities being beaten, thrown out of their homes and denied entry to hospitals or restaurants. 

According to CNN, students and workers from Africa were forcibly tested by Chinese officials last week before being strong-armed into quarantine for 14 days. 

Hundreds of immigrants from across Africa told news outlets that landlords had arbitrarily removed them from their homes and that they had been refused access to hotels in Guangzhou. 

"We are appalled by the widely reported instances of xenophobia in parts of China, where Africans and African Americans are being ejected from residences and forced to sleep on streets, denied medical care and mistreated. We have watched disturbing videos of pregnant mothers being turned away from hospitals simply because they are Black. We are calling upon the government of China to urgently intervene and ensure that targeted attacks on Black people are brought to an end," the statement said.

Both men go on to say that they are working together to "facilitate a humanitarian mission to airlift those Africans and African Americans who are affected by these attacks to a country in Africa that is willing to receive them."

They also offered to evacuate people to the United States if they have citizenship or permanent resident status. 

"We call upon leaders from across the global African community including political leaders, social activists, artists and other leaders to join us in this effort," the statement said. 

The situation stems from conspiracy theories within China that a new wave of coronavirus infections taking over the country is due to immigrants, particularly those from Africa. The coronavirus pandemic is believed to have originated in China, but since March the Chinese government has claimed that the virus is under control.

Videos and reports of the discrimination have made their way back to Africa and to the United States, where there has been widespread outrage about the treatment. In Kenya, South Africa, Uganda and Nigeria, news outlets have written dozens of stories about the crisis, and leaders in each country have demanded a response from the Chinese government, which has spent decades cultivating business ties with the continent. 

"We are still facing great risks of imported cases and domestic resurgence. Particularly, as the pandemic spreads all over the world, imported cases are causing mounting pressure. All foreigners are treated equally. We reject differential treatment, and we have zero tolerance for discrimination," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said in a statement on Sunday. 

The situation has gotten so bad that the U.S. consulate in Guangzhou released an advisory telling Black people not to travel to the city, saying city officials had told local businesses not to serve anyone who had contact with Black people. 

The U.S. State Department has jumped into the fracas, calling out the local government for their treatment of Black people. 

The Chinese government has met with dozens of African ambassadors after they demanded meetings with the foreign minister over the crisis. 

Despite fears of a second wave of coronavirus infections spurred by people coming from abroad, most of the new infections are coming from Chinese people returning to the country. Reuters reported that China has 108 new cases and more than half were from Chinese people returning from Russia. 

Wine told NTV Uganda on Monday that he was working with other leaders in Africa to address the problem. 

Nigerian lawmaker Oloye Akin Alabi posted a video on Twitter this weekend of himself and a Chinese government official discussing the issue of the treatment of Africans in China. He showed the official videos that had been circulating online of Africans being mistreated.

Chairperson of the African Union Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat also took to Twitter to say that he met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to demand answers about what was happening. 

Chinese ambassadors in Africa have since responded to the complaints, saying they are working with local authorities to help those who have been thrown out of their homes. CNN reported that there are nearly 5,000 people of African descent in Guangzhou.

CNN reporters were able to speak to some people who said that since the public outrage reached its peak last week, they have been moved to hotels and given housing with new landlords.

But the Chinese government has still not addressed concerns about new rules concerning "foreigners," and little has been said about the initial drive to remove Africans from their housing.

Chinese officials have repeatedly called it a misunderstanding and say they are simply trying to keep everyone, including Africans, safe from the virus through testing.

But one Kenyan student, who spoke to Daily Nation in Kenya, told the newspaper that the discrimination was widespread and was becoming far more common than before. 

“We are unwanted. They narrowed down to Africans and started discriminating against us. We cannot enter malls, restaurants or markets. They say we are carriers of the virus and the reason for many asymptomatic cases. During the pandemic, Africans came out to help and our thinking was they would return the favour,” she said, telling the news outlet that she had almost been attacked for leaving her room to empty out a trash can. 

The 27-year-old student, whose name was withheld for safety reasons, said she was now staying inside “not because of the virus, but because of the colour of my skin.”

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