Migration and Australian foreign policy towards Africa : the place of Australia's African transnational communities

This chapter assesses the influence of Australia’s growing African communities on Australian foreign policy, drawing on two key reports: the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade’s Inquiry into Australia’s Relationship with the Countries of Africa (hereafter ‘JSCFADT Inquiry’) and the Australian Human Rights Commission report on African Australians and social inclusion, In Our Own Words. The chapter will first consider the size and composition of migration from Africa, highlighting how the diversity of the African continent is reflected in the many African men, women and children settling in Australia. Second, by drawing from comparable research on diasporas in general, and on African diasporas specifically, I take a transnational perspective to explore how what have been termed ‘people-to-people’ links can play a positive role in foreign policy. As Lyons writes of Australia’s re-engagement with the countries of Africa, ‘Australia can boast an increasing number of Africans living here, and thus must “re-engage” with Africa and Africans from a local perspective as well’. For Australia’s foreign policy towards Africa to recognise that the local truly is global, both domestic issues and foreign policy challenges for re-engaging with Africa must be addressed. To face these challenges I argue here that there are lessons to be learned about the involvement of diasporas in foreign policy which, if heeded, can provide Australia with a competitive edge in its relationship with the countries of Africa