Thousands of Zimbabweans are crossing the border into South Africa, and they face a tough life on the other side. Refugees say they are disappointed by the lack of solidarity shown by South Africans.
On Friday, the Solidarity Peace Trust launched a report in Johannesburg that examines these refugees’ situation in South Africa.
“To live as a makwerekwere [foreigner] in South Africa is very hard, and still refugees choose this hard life above their lives in Zimbabwe,” said Bishop Kevin Dowling, of the Solidarity and Peace Trust.
“We take the stand that the Southern African Development Community governments must move away from their policy of quiet diplomacy, away from their solidarity with the Zimbabwean government.
“We want these governments to move to a principal stand behind the people of Zimbabwe.”
Refugees
The report, titled No War in Zimbabwe, speaks of abuse and prosecution by police and other government bodies in that country. It analyses Zimbabwe’s humanitarian crisis and shortage of food, and describes the collapse of social services and the economy.
All of this has caused 3,4-million Zimbabweans to leave their country — about 65% of all productive adults. About 1,7-million chose to come to South Africa, including the estimated 500Â 000 who migrate regularly for work.
The report states that once in South Africa, it is difficult for these people to obtain an asylum-seeker permit or a refugee status.
The South African Department of Home Affairs is described as highly corrupt, and is said to work very slowly when dealing with Zimbabweans’ applications.
The report quotes staff of the Refugee Reception Office in Johannesburg as saying: “There is no civil war in Zimbabwe, so there is no reason to apply.”
Zimbabwean refugees without papers have no right to health care, and it is difficult for them to find jobs. They face discrimination and poverty.
With the coming elections in Zimbabwe, planned for March next year, the number of refugees is expected to rise.
No War in Zimbabwe describes the deportation of illegal refugees as a revolving door, because most deported Zimbabweans return within hours or days to South Africa.
The report also points to the inhumane aspects of the deportation and detention of illegal immigrants.
Food
In terms of the Refugee Act, refugees who face prosecution when they return to their country are eligible for a permit.
The Solidarity Peace Trust wants to set up a test case to establish whether Zimbabweans who are being denied food on political grounds should also be given asylum.
The report says the United Nations predicts a 50% food deficit in Zimbabwe, regardless of claims by President Robert Mugabe’s government that there is plenty of food to feed the nation.
The Solidarity Peace Trust fears that Mugabe’s government will use food as a political tool; only supporters of Mugabe’s ruling Zanu-PF will have access to food.
If this test case is successful, refugees who are being denied food on a political ground will also be eligible for a refugee permit.
Solidarity
Many Zimbabwean refugees are disappointed by the attitude of the South African government and people.
“We have always supported South Africa in its struggle for freedom and against apartheid,” said Gabriel Shumba, a Zimbabwean refugee and human-rights lawyer, at the launch of the report.
“During that struggle, South Africans were welcome in Zimbabwe, but now that we face similar problems, we are ignored, discriminated and deported. The attitude of the South African people is shameful.
“South Africa hates us for standing up against Mugabe,” he concluded.
But is this criticism just? There seem to be few initiatives from Zimbabweans in their own country or in South Africa to organise protests that could provoke such solidarity.
“That is true, but it is very difficult for the people in Zimbabwe to organise protests against the government,” Elinor Sisulu, of the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, told the Mail & Guardian Online on Friday.
“The government will react in a very harsh and oppressive way, and apart from that, the collapse of the Zimbabwean economy leaves them with very little practical means to organise. There is no petrol; there isn’t even ink to print posters or pamphlets.
“Zimbabweans in South Africa could do a lot more, though, to mobilise people against Mugabe and against the politics of quiet diplomacy,” Sisulu said.
“The Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition is trying to motivate Zimbabweans here to mobilise a protest movement in South Africa.
“But we don’t just need a movement of protest. The mindset of many South Africans towards Zimbabwean refugees should change from hostility to solidarity.”