Migration, Refugees, and Racism in South Africa

Refuge

Volumn 20, Issue 1, 2001, Pages 40-51

  Handmaker, Jeff ^a,b   Parsley, Jennifer ^c  

^a SOAS ^*  (United Kingdom)

^b UNIVERSITY OF LONDON   (United Kingdom)

^c UNIVERSITY OF THE WITWATERSRAND   (South Africa)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 85128655100     PISSN: 02295113     EISSN: 19207336     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.25071/1920-7336.21246     Document Type: Article

References (58)

1. Notes
2. Mario Sevene, Mozambique Minister of Labour, reacting to the police dog “training video” portraying Mozambican nationals being set upon by dogs and police officers, PANA, Maputo, 9 November 2000.
3. Part of this section is drawn from J. Handmaker and K. Singh, “Crossing Borders” [draft work-in-progress, commissioned by the Research Unit on Law and Administration, Faculty of Law, University of Witwatersrand, May 2001].
4. It is by now very well established that this war, described by a U.S. State department official as “one of the most brutal holocausts against ordinary human beings since World War II” (Footnote 31 in Human Rights Watch infra note 21) was a conflict sponsored in part by the South African government itself.
5. Also, R. Danso and D. McDonald, Writing Xenophobia: Immigration and the Press in Post-Apartheid South Africa, ed. J Crush and D. McDonald, SAMP Migration Policy Series, paper no. 17 (Cape Town: Southern African Migration Project, 2000).
6. J. Crush, Covert Operations: Clandestine Migration, Temporary Work and Immigration Policy in South Africa (Cape Town: Southern African Migration Project, March 1997).
7. J. Crush, “The Discourse and Dimensions of Irregularity in Post-Apartheid South Africa” (1999) 37:1 International Migration 128.
8. J. Crush, “The Discourse and Dimensions of Irregularity in Post-Apartheid South Africa” (1999) 37:1 International Migration. at 131.
9. South African Institute of Race Relations, A Survey of Race Relations in South Africa (Johannesburg: SAIRR, 1955–56, 1959–60, 1976, 1985). In 1986, influx control was abolished.
10. S. Peberdy and J. Crush, “Rooted in Racism: The Origins of the Aliens Control Act” in J. Crush, ed., Beyond Control: Immigration & Human Rights in a Democratic South Africa (Cape Town: Southern African Migration Project, 1998) 18–36.
11. B. Masethla, “Refugee Law, Policy and Practice in South Africa” (Presentation at a workshop titled Refugee Life in South Africa: Building Partnerships for Better Solutions, organized by the NCRA, RBX, and the UNHCR, on World Refugee Day, 20 June 2001) [unpublished].
12. G. Cawthra, Policing South Africa (Cape Town: David Philip, 1993) at 1.
13. Illegal? Report on the apprehension and Detention of Sus-pected Undocumented Migrants (Johannesburg: South African Human Rights Commission, February 1999), online See infra note 16.
14. Part of this section is drawn from both J. Handmaker and K. Singh, “Crossing Borders,” supra note 2, and J. Hand-maker, “No Easy Walk” Africa Today [forthcoming].
15. Aliens Control Amendment Act No. 76 of 1996.
16. J. Handmaker, “Who Determines Policy? Promoting the Right of Asylum in South Africa” (1999) 11:2 International Journal of Refugee Law 294.
17. see also Illegal?. This was also one of the results of a wide-ranging inquiry, which from March 1998 investi-gated the manner in which persons are apprehended and detained under the Aliens Control Act. Participating NGOs included Wits Law Clinic, Centre for Applied Legal Studies, and Lawyers for Human Rights.
18. J. Klaaren, “Immigration Law and the South African Con-stitution” in J. Crush, ed., Beyond Control (Cape Town: Southern African Migration Project, 1998), 55–78
19. Such an approach, which identifies asylum seekers as “bo-gus,” has been condemned by the recently appointed United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Ruud Lubbers, in an editorial (19 June 2001) published in The Australian; online .
20. While most (including ourselves) would certainly support sanctions against people traffickers and unscrupulous em-ployers, as we explain later, a policy based predominantly on punitive sanctions is unlikely to be successful. See B. Ghosh, Huddled Masses and Uncertain Shores (The Hague: Kluwer Law International, 1998).
21. B. Masethla, “Refugee Law, Policy and Practice in South Africa” (presentation at a workshop titled: Refugee Life in South Africa: Building Partnerships for Better Solutions, 20 June 2001).
22. Human Rights Watch, Prohibited Persons: Abuse of Undocumented Migrants, Asylum Seekers, and Refugees in South Africa (New York: Human Rights Watch, 1998) 170; J. Handmaker, “Who Determines Policy?” supra note 15 at 295.
23. J. Klaaren and C. Sprigman, “Refugee Status Determination Procedures in South African Law”(presentation at the conference Refugees in the New South Africa, organized by Lawyers for Human Rights, Pretoria, 27–29 March 1998) [unpublished].
24. In April 2000, there were around one hundred officials working within the Refugees Sub-Directorate of the Department of Home Affairs.
25. J. Klaaren and C. Sprigman, “Refugee Status Determination Procedures in South African Law” supra note 22; W. Kerfoot, “The Lack of Due Process in Asylum Determination in South Africa" (presentation at the conference Refugees in the New South Africa, organized by Lawyers for Human Rights, Pretoria, 27–29 March 1998) [unpublished]; and Z. Majodina, Human Rights Implications of Refugee Protection (presentation at a workshop titled Refugee Life in South Africa: Building Partnerships for Better Solution, 20 June 2001) [unpublished].
26. J. Handmaker, “Who Determines Policy”, ibid. at 290.
27. According to the Jesuit Refugee Services, in reality it takes between eight and ten months, as the 180 days is calculated from the date of the first official interview.
28. Refugee participant in Roll Back Xenophobia Campaign workshop on the rights of women refugees, November 2000.
29. This situation is confirmed in a recent research report, F. Belve-dere, P. Pigou, J. Handmaker, Realising Rights: The development of health and welfare policies for asylum seekers and refugees in South Africa (Johannesburg: Community Agency for Social En-quiry, May 2001). A similar view is held by R. Cholewinski, “Enforced Destitution of Asylum Seekers in the United Kingdom: The Denial of Fundamental Rights” (1998) 10:3 International Journal of Refuge Law 462.
30. A workshop was hosted by the NCRA, the Roll Back Xenophobia Campaign, and the UNHCR on World Refugee Day, 20 June 2001, to discuss issues of socio-economic rights of refugees and asylum seekers. It brought together government departments, NGOs, faith-based organizations, and others to look at a holistic and co-operative approach. A process will be initiated for government to begin playing its rightful role in supporting refugees.
31. “Train from hell to Irene Station” Pretoria News (4 September 1998).
32. G. Okkoth-Obbo, “Does Refugee Protection in Africa Need Me-diation?’ (2000) 19:3 Track Two: Refugees, Conflict and Conflict Resolution 40.
33. In B. Harris, A Foreign Space: Migration, Violence and Identity in a New Nation (2000) [unpublished; Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation].
34. V. Williams, “In Need of Protection: Good Policy versus Harsh Reality for Refugees in South Africa” (2000) 9:3 Track Two: Refugees, Conflict and Conflict Resolution 9.
35. G. Reagon and J. Parsley, “Borderlines: Xenophobia… A New Racism? Challenges for the South Africa Media” (2000) [unpub-lished, Submission to the SAHRC Hearings into Racism in the Media].
36. G. Reagon and J. Parsley, “Borderlines: Xenophobia… A New Racism? Challenges for the South Africa Media” (2000) [unpub-lished, Submission to the SAHRC Hearings into Racism in the Media]., cit 35.
37. G. Okkoth-Obbo, “Does Refugee Protection in Africa Need Me-diation?” (2000) 19:3 Track Two: Refugees, Conflict and Conflict Resolution
38. N. Yuval-Davis, Gender and Nation (Cape Town: Sage publica-tions, 1997).
39. R. Mattes et al., Still Waiting for the Barbarians; South Africa Attitudes to Immigrants and Immigration, SAMP Policy Series, paper no. 14 (Cape Town: Southern African Migration Project, 1999).
40. South African Human Rights Commission, Press Release in response to SAPS dog attack on non-nationals, “A ‘dog eat dog’ world??” (17 November 2000).
41. Human Rights Watch, supra note 21, at 119.
42. Amnesty International, London, Press Release, “South Af-rica: Amnesty International welcomes Government action against racially-motivated violence by police” (8 November 2000).
43. H. Radebe, “Time we became a bit more neighbourly” The [Johannesburg] Star Newspaper, (March 2000).
44. M. Monare, “Cops Assault Teacher Facing Suspension” The [Johannesburg]Star Newspaper (13 March 2001).
45. The Roll Back Xenophobia Campaign, Braamfontein Statement (1998) and National Plan of Action; Racism and Xenophobia: A Violation of Human Rights, by the South African Human Rights Commission, produced by the National Consortium on Refugee Affairs and the UNHCR; online: and .
46. Asylum seeker speaking at a Roll Back Xenophobia Campaign media seminar titled Conflict in Africa and the Implications for Refugee Movements, 18 June 2001.
47. The project is a partnership between the Roll Back Xenophobia Campaign, Lawyers for Human Rights, the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation, and the South African Human Rights Commission’s National Centre for Human Rights Training and Education.
48. Second United Nations World Conference Against Ra-cism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related In-tolerance, held in Geneva, 1983.
49. Third United Nations World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intoler-ance, held in Durban, South Africa, 31 August – 8 September 2001.
50. WCAR NGO Forum Declaration, 3 September 2001.
51. “Declaration and Programme of Action,” World Conference Against Racism, Xenophobia and Related Intoler-ances, Durban, 24 September 2001, Agenda item 9 (to be passed as a General Assembly Resolution in the UN).
52. It is well worth noting the considerable input provided by international NGO Human Rights Watch, whose docu-mentation was widely used by South African and other NGOs working on refugee and migrant issues as a basis for their own advocacy campaigns. For further information see online: .
53. The Roll Back Xenophobia Campaign was launched in December 1998 in response to the rising levels of xenophobia evident in South Africa. It is a partnership project between the South African Human Rights Commission, the National Consortium on Refugee Affairs, and the UNHCR.
54. Statement by Rob Ruts, senior partner at Ennea consultants and head of the Expert Centre on Community Policing of the National Police Training Institute in The Netherlands, in a discussion with J. Handmaker, 17 May 2001.
55. As Ruts (ibid.) has also noted, addressing attitudes amongst officials goes hand in hand with the need to address corruption, though this is nearly impossible to tackle if the police officers responsible are barely able to make a living on their existing salary. Strategies to improve accountability and reduce corruption, therefore, need to be tied to improvements in the working con-ditions of the police (including remuneration).
56. We of course refer to the terrorist attacks against the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., on 11 September 2001.
57. For a recent and useful review of U.S. policies on border control, see P. Martin, B. L. Lowell, and E. Taylor, “Migration Outcomes of Guest Worker and Free Trade Regimes: The Case of Mexico – US Migration” in B. Ghosh, ed., Managing Migration (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000).
58. “Pahad asks US to use restraint’ Pretoria News (19 September 2001).