Migration News - June 1998

June 1998

• SAPA (Lusaka 30/06) reports that more than 300 Hutu refugees from Burundi and Rwanda on Monday arrived in the Mwinilunga district in north-western Zambia after crossing the Angolan border, Radio Zambia reported on Tuesday. Two days previously, 600 refugees poured into the country from Luahu refugee camp in Angola, reportedly after rumours that renewed fighting was expected between Angolan government forces and the Unita movement. The refugees have been moved to Minyongi refugee camp, about 15 kilometers from Mwinilunga town. Last Friday, 167 refugees arrived at Mwinilunga refugee transit centre and were transferred to Minyongi refugee camp. In total, nearly 1,000 refugees have arrived in the past seven days. Refugee Petrois Makadinga told the Times of Zambia that 200 more refugees from Angola were expected to arrive shortly in Mwinilunga. "They are fleeing Luahu because of insecurity, " he said. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees in Lusaka confirmed the refugees' plight, and said everything possible was being done to assist them.

• SAPA (Pretoria 29/06) reports that two Department of Home Affairs clerks were arrested last week on suspicion of corruption. Department spokesman Manase Makwela in a statement said the two were based at Home Affairs offices in Johannesburg and Roodeport. Makwela said Marijke Barnard, who worked in the passports and identity documents section in Roodepoort, allegedly stole about R9,000 from fees submitted for passport applications. Barnard has appeared in court and is out on bail. The other clerk, who has not appeared in court, worked in the population registry section and was arrested for allegedly assisting aliens acquire South African identity documents through late registration of births. Makwela said cases were also pending against two other Home Affairs clerks. Gladwin Monareng, an administration clerk at the Soweto regional office, was arrested for allegedly issuing himself a fraudulent temporary identity document. Patrick Mohlophegi, an administration clerk based at the Harrison Street, Johannesburg regional office, was arrested for allegedly aiding and abetting "illegal aliens".

• Angella Johnson (26/06) reports that Philippe Troussier, the "Frenchman with the poor interpersonal skills", has emerged as the national scapegoat for Bafana Bafana's less- than-sparkling performance in the World Cup. The charges: that as a foreigner he lacks any real understanding of the way football is played in this country; and that he deliberately sabotaged the first game against France out of a twisted sense of nationalism. The Pan Africanist Congress even went so far as to point out that Troussier's European background ("he is a white colonialist") made him untrustworthy as a coach and argued that it was time a "true son of Africa was appointed". Former Moraka Swallows coach Mike Mangena said South Africa's downfall at the World Cup was directly linked to the South African Football Association's (Safa) decision to employ a foreigner. "I don't know why Safa employed a foreigner when we have good local coaches who can do good job. And I question Troussier's motives for taking the job to coach Bafana Bafana. I only hope that Safa has learned a good lesson about foreigners." But the rash of anti-foreign sentiment sparked by Bafana Bafana's poor showing on the football pitch reveals an ugly side of the new South African psyche - the rising tide of xenophobia. Fueled by high unemployment, this hatred and resentment are usually directed against black foreign workers, who are viewed as economic interlopers. But increasingly blacks from Europe and the United States have found themselves facing similar resentment and labeling as amakwere-kwere (foreigner). They are aided and abetted by media reports of police rounding up and arresting "illegal immigrants" - usually hard- working men and women eking out a living selling goods on the streets. The use of these terms by officialdom and the media to describe people from neighbouring states contributes to the growing xenophobia in the country. "Yet, according to two recent studies conducted for the Southern African Migration Project, numerous misconceptions exist about Africans who are living and trading in South Africa. For example, most of the people who sell on the streets are here legally. They are more likely to be providing jobs for local people, and usually sell goods which are otherwise unavailable in South Africa. Traders from the region are mainly migrants, not immigrants. They are involved in a cycle of cross-border trade, where they invest their profits from sales in South Africa buying goods which they take to sell in their home countries."

• Cape Times (26/06) reports that costly surge of stowaways into South Africa’s ports. In Durban, poor economic conditions and joblessness in Africa were responsible for a surge in the number of stowaways using South African ports. In terms of the Aliens Control Act, shipping agents are obliged to absorb all costs, including those associated with repatriation of stowaways to their countries of residence. Estimates also indicate there are at least 800 to 900 stowaways in South Africa at the moment.

• Cape Argus (25/06) reports that in Nelspruit, Defence Force border patrols in the Kruger National park have arrested 294 people entering the country from Mozambique illegally in the past month. Defence Force spokeswoman Lize Pienaar said Mpumalanga commandos had had a string of successes in curbing the tide of people "flooding" into South Africa. "Our unit in the Ermelo area 111 South African Infantry Battalion, arrested 2,673 in a space of two month from March to April," she said. Two more commando units recently had been deployed on the Kruger Park’s eastern border with Mozambique to stop illegal crossings.

• Cape Argus (24/06) reports that about 80,000 people have permanently left the shores of South Africa since the 1994 elections. The main concern about the wholesale flight of white people, many of whom received their education and primary social care in this country, is the loss of skill and economic viability. The following reasons were provided for this disturbing reality: "many of those who have left, or are planning to leave soon, said they were fleeing the high crime rate, the lack of safety and security, a perceived drop in education standards, deteriorating health care and affirmative action. All of the many reasons provided for wanting to leave are certainly real and acceptable."

• SAPA (Maseru 24/06) reports an anti-crime operation by South African and Lesotho police has caused disruption, delays and frustration for cross-border travelers at the Maseru border post, SABC television news reported on Wednesday. SABC TV News described the situation at the Maseru bridge as chaotic, with people traveling between South Africa and Lesotho being forced to wait up to three hours to have their passports stamped. The delays were the result of a week-long operation involving police and the South African Department of Home Affairs aimed at crime prevention and immigration controls, the SABC reported. Every day about 12,000 people cross at the Maseru bridge. South Africans who shop and work in Lesotho cross the border at least twice a day, and the same applies to Lesotho citizens traveling to South Africa. Prior to the operation, a six-month pass was available to ensure easy crossing, and passing through the border took only about five minutes. SABC TV News said Home Affairs believed the pass system was being abused and that stricter controls were needed.

• SAPA (Madgeburg 24/06) reports that South Africa was looking at revamping its migration policies to provide easier access to moneyed and skilled entrepreneurs and professionals, Home Affairs Minister Mangosuthu Buthelezi indicated. Buthelezi told an investment conference in Madgeburg that Pretoria recognized the need for the immigration of foreigners who possessed skills and knowledge not readily available in South Africa to keep abreast of technological advancements, and to replace expertise lost through emigration. These issues were being revisited by a task team drafting a white paper to set forth a policy framework in which the country's immigration and naturalization laws would be redrafted, Buthelezi said. The need for foreign investors and capital would continue to remain one of the most important factors of the economy. "I wish to emphasize that applications by prospective entrepreneurs are considered very favourably, as are those by highly skilled workers who are able to promote the growth of the local economy with the ensuing upliftment of our nation." The "brotherhood of humankind could not be artificially divided by boundaries and petty national concerns", Buthelezi said. "Those of us who carry the responsibility of protecting national frontiers should in my opinion always keep in mind the need to move towards a world in which our respective cultural diversities and national identities will not need to be preserved by national boundaries and people will be free to circulate on the planet to which they equally belong."

• SAPA (Johannesburg 20/06) reports South Africa and Botswana police are to intensify security measures to curb illegal hunting in areas near the border separating the two countries. This follows the arrest in the last two weeks of three South Africans hunting illegally at the Kwena ranch in Botswana, police said on Saturday. One of the men, from Pretoria, was charged with illegal hunting on private land without consent of the owner, illegally importing a firearm and ammunition, and entering the country illegally. He paid an admission of guilt of R1,200, and was repatriated. The other two arrested were from Cape Town and Pretoria, and charges against them are being investigated. "Prospective hunters trying to hunt across the borders are warned that both the South African Police Service and their counterparts from Botswana are going to reinforce their strategies to catch the culprits," police said.

• Business Day (19/06) reports that South Africa launched its white paper on refugees in Pretoria. In his speech, the Minister of Home Affairs Mangosuthu Buthelezi said "South Africa would not allow victims of environmental disasters, poverty and other social and economic hardships to obtain refugee status in the country." He further argued that this is presently happening and once the final stage of implementing international asylum principles has been formalized and our refugee legislation enacted, it will combat the abuse of the asylum system and assist genuine refugees. According to the Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Lindiwe Sisulu, the present system entitled migrants to live and work in South Africa for a period pending the processing of their applications for refugee status. A great number of people regarded this as a useful avenue of entry into South Africa.

• The Star (18/06) reports that Albert Khoza, an "illegal immigrant" from Mozambique makes money from selling beers and audio speakers and from repairing radios in Diepkloof informal settlement. But, he says, little of the profit he makes goes into his pocket because he has to bribe the police to avoid deportation. He claims that on two separate occasions this year he paid R350 and R600 respectively to avoid deportation. He is one of the residents at the settlement who have formed the Black Poor People Rights Fighter, an organization which represents both South Africans and immigrants who feel they are ill-treated by the police.

• Business Day (18/06) reports that one in three people arrested by the police last month was an "illegal immigrant", but only a small number of those were arrested for involvement in crime. In contrast to the high proportion of "illegal immigrants", those arrested for armed robbery, hijacking, murder and attempted murder accounted for 7.7% of Johannesburg’s arrests. It appears that police regardless of any involvement in criminal activities targeted "illegal immigrants." According to the Southern African Migration Project manager at Idasa, Vincent Williams, SA deported 606,176 people between 1994 and 1997 at a cost of R210 million per year. Many of them boarded the taxis returning back to South Africa the very day they were deported.

• The Argus (18/06) reports that a draft refugee white paper was setting the stage for Home Affairs Minister Mangosuthu Buthelezi to unveil South Africa’s first refugee law. Of particular interest are proposals to streamline eligibility procedures and to cut down on alleged widespread abuse of corruption. There are also plans to issue formal identity documents to refugees immediately once their status in confirmed. In Cape Town alone, there are about 9,000 refugees and although most have been in the country for as long as three years, only about 3,000 have been granted asylum.

• The Argus (18/06) reports that refugees find no place to hide in Cape Town. Cape Town’s 9,000 refugees have been greeted mostly with anger and suspicion in the townships when they try to set up new homes. They are seen as unfair competition in a depressed economy where jobs are hard to find. In reality, they have fled serious human rights abuses in other African countries, many arriving with only the clothes they are wearing, separated from their families and sometimes even their children and thinking primarily of their safety rather than their economic upliftment. They would not be standing in job queues in South Africa if they had not been forced to flee for their lives, it was reported.

• The Electronic Mail &Guardian (Johannesburg 18/06) reports that the most extensive study into illegal migration into South Africa dismisses claims that the country is being flooded by impoverished refugees. Claims that South Africa is under siege from a torrent of "illegal immigrants" from neighbouring states have been challenged in a new study. In a report on migration in the region, the Institute for Democracy says the government must change its policies towards foreigners. Director Wilmot James says there is dangerous xenophobia, stereotypes, abuse of foreigners' rights, inappropriate regulations and procedures. The image is of hopelessly poor and desperate foreigners trying to enter the country by any means. "All these are wrong," says James. "By and large, people prefer their home country. Despite the popular notion that this country is the most desirable place to live, most of those interviewed identified their home country as a better place to raise a family, with basic resources like land, water and housing being the most important reasons." The report, compiled by the Southern Africa Migration Project, is based on interviews conducted with more than 2,000 people in Mozambique, Lesotho and Zimbabwe. Most of the people entered South Africa through official border posts.

• SAPA (Pretoria 18/06) reports that repatriating thousands of "illegal aliens" cost South Africa about R200 million a year, Home Affairs director-general Albert Mokoena said on Thursday. "We will have to have discussions with the countries these people originate from towards possible sharing of costs," he told a workshop on border control in Pretoria. The number of "illegal aliens" repatriated by South Africa had risen from 6300 in 1991 to more than 173000 in 1997. "If any of the current estimates of the number of illegals in South Africa is correct, it is clear that it is time for a rethink on existing methods and procedures," Mokoena said. The 1996 census listed about 500,000 "illegal aliens", while a Human Sciences Research Council study indicated there were between 2,5 and 4,1 million in the country. A spiraling, undocumented and uncontrolled influx of aliens posed serious problems. They contributed little to the economy while placing an extra burden on the country's infrastructure, which cost taxpayers millions of rands a year. "So those false prophets who monopolize pulpits and condemn us for removing thousands of "illegal immigrants" from our land each year need to rethink their sermons," Mokoena said.

• SAPA (Pretoria 18/06) reports that new legislation is essential to end the abuse of South Africa's current asylum system by foreigners posing as refugees, according to a Draft Refugee White Paper published on Thursday. Home Affairs Minister Mangosuthu Buthelezi said the new refugee policy would exclude victims of poverty or environmental disasters. He said refugees should not be confused with "illegal aliens". Refugees were individuals who "owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality or membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality". Refugee affairs could no longer effectively be dealt with in terms of the Aliens Control Act, Buthelezi said. Deputy Home Affairs Minister Lindiwe Sisulu said the current system entitled migrants to live and work in the country for a period pending their applications for refugee status. The document says refugees should not be prosecuted on account of their "illegal" entry into South Africa, provided that they present themselves without delay to the authorities and show good cause for their presence. The entire application process should not be longer than six months. A Refugee Bill providing for these procedures will be published in the Government Gazette on Friday. Buthelezi called on interested parties to comment on the Draft White Paper and the Bill before July 20.

• SAPA (Eritrea 17/06) reports that hundreds of Eritreans rounded up for deportation by the Ethiopian government reached their homeland Wednesday at the end of an arduous, dusty three-day trip aboard packed buses, angry Eritrean officials said Wednesday. "The Ethiopian government continues to pursue its witch-hunt of Eritreans with greater intensity," a government statement said. The deportations were the latest salvo fired in the Horn of Africa countries' nearly six-week-old border conflict. No fighting was reported Wednesday. Thirsty and hungry, the deported Eritreans arrived in the border town of Om Hajer, 310 kilometers (190 miles) southwest of Asmara and near the Sudanese border, said presidential adviser Yemane Gebremeskel. Eritreans said 800 were expelled, while Ethiopians put the figure at 500. About 550,000 Eritreans live in Ethiopia, mostly in the capital and the northern provinces. The Ethiopian government said the deportees posed security risks, for example because they had military training, or were raising funds for the Eritrean war effort.

• Business Day (15/06) reports that the Institute of Directors in Southern Africa lost 45 of its 1,500 members last year due to emigration. Most of these directors were involved in information technology industry and aged between 45 and 55. They have gone in order of preference, to Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Britain, said Richard Wilkinson. Solly Tucker, who has been re-elected chairman of the institute said: "we have lost grievously through emigration. Fortunately, fresh blood has made good our numbers". However, the Institute has fared much better than similar organizations, which have sustained substantial declines in member numbers.

• Reuters (12/06), in an article entitled Lithuanian Jews Make Big Impact in South Africa, reports that casino magnate Sol Kerzner, the late communist Joe Slovo and veteran anti-apartheid activist Helen Suzman make an unlikely trio but they share one thing in common. Aside from making a big impact on South African public life, this colourful cast is all of Lithuanian-Jewish descent.

• SAPA (National Assembly 11/06) reports that the South African Passports and Travel Documents Amendment Bill, which effectively allows the Minister of Home Affairs to prescribe finger printing as a requirement for issuing passports, was unanimously approved by the National Assembly on Thursday. Although the bill does not refer specifically to finger printing, it allows the Minister to prescribe regulations under which passports may be issued. Introducing debate, Home Affairs Minister Mangosuthu Buthelezi said finger printing was an integral part of identification processes. The legislation would allow the authorities to crosscheck the identity of people applying for passports against the population register, which contained the finger prints of people issued with identity documents. Buthelezi said this would help prevent South African passports being issued to aliens, who were known to have applied for passports in the past. South Africa's new passports compared with the best in the world and although the issuing process took time, efforts were being made to speed it up. Arguments from some quarters that finger printing was an invasion of privacy were unsound and unconvincing, Buthelezi said.

• SAPA (Johannesburg 10/06) reports that Johannesburg police last month arrested 1540 "illegal immigrants".

• SAPA (Windhoek 10/06) reports that Botswana authorities have announced that they are dismantling 30km of the controversial Northern Buffalo-Kwando River electric fence along the Namibia-Botswana border. Work on rolling back a section of the killer barrier started more than two weeks ago. The erection of the electric fence along the border, stretching from Caprivi's Mahango Game Reserve to the Kwando River, resulted in game - including elephant, giraffe, buffalo and kudu - suffering a torturous death after getting entangled in the fence during migration between the two countries. Concerns were raised in Namibia and Botswana over the disruption of natural migratory routes and the impact on the tourism industry. Namibia launched a top-level probe into the negative impact of the fence last year and also raised the issue with the Botswana authorities. Only the 30km Northern Buffalo-Kwando River fence would be taken down.

• SAPA (Asmara 07/06) reports that with a border dispute escalating into bombing raids, hundreds of foreigners scrambled out of Eritrea on Sunday, fearing it will be engulfed in war with Ethiopia. One of their main escape routes earlier had come under attack for a second straight day. Ethiopian jets bombed a military-civilian airport on the outskirts of Asmara on for the second time Saturday, forcing embassies to step up their exit plans. American, Italian, German and British planes ferried foreigners out of harm's way late Saturday and early Sunday after Ethiopia agreed to temporarily halt bombing. Weary expatriates crowded the airport parking lot, waiting for to be evacuated. Angered and confused by the sudden violence in this capital of broad boulevards and modern buildings, no one wanted to talk about his decision to go. "In principle, this is the last of the evacuations, but in practice, if someone wants to leave we'll try to help," said French Ambassador Louis Le Vert.

• The Star (06/06) reports that a Chinese man blames computer error for deportation threat. The Star investigation has averted possible deportation for a Chinese family who was declared "illegal" after an alleged Department of Home Affairs error. The investigation into the status of the Jie family could still hold devastating consequences for the family of four, as well as the local workers they employ in their Johannesburg textile factory. Their fate will be decided by the Department of Home Affairs soon, but now a heavy cloud hangs over Gong Wen Jie who continues to work at the factory he started from scratch three years ago. He stands to loose everything he worked for, and is powerless to do anything but wait for a verdict. The 31-year-old Shanghai native immigrated to South Africa in 1991 from China.

• SAPA (Mozambique 06/06) reports that a one-stop permit allowing passengers and goods to travel across the border between South Africa and Mozambique came into effect on Saturday, the two countries announced. South African Transport Minister Mac Maharaj said at the official launch of the Maputo development corridor toll road in Ressano Garcia, the Bilateral Agreement on Road Transport, would facilitate the movement of people and goods between the two countries. The agreement echoed a Southern African Development Community undertaking to ease the flow of people and goods in the region to increase trade and development. Mozambican president Joaquim Chissano said the agreement was one example of the strengthening of ties between the two countries. "We have likewise been noting with satisfaction the advanced stage of engineering research on the construction of a one-stop border post between Mozambique and South Africa in Ressano Garcia," he said. This would positively influence the urban planning and growth of the Mozambican border town, Chissano said.

• SAPA (Mozambique 06/06) reports that the construction of the R2 billion Maputo development corridor toll road was officially launched at an elaborate ceremony attended by thousands of people in the border town of Ressano Garcia on Saturday. The corridor has been dubbed the largest infrastructure project on the African continent. "As we co-operated in our struggle for liberation, as we stood together against oppression and violence, so we now take hands to improve the lives of our people," Mandela said. "We are saying to the world that Africa is not only a zone of instability, but rather one of economic progress and development," Chissano said, adding "This is what is going to draw us out of poverty, because it will bring about job creation," he said. "We go to South Africa seeking jobs but the now the jobs are coming to us," he said. Mozambique was not afraid of being left in the lurch by South Africa, a highly developed country by comparison. TRAC chief executive officer Trevor Jackson said "we area celebrating a link between two countries and an import-export route to and from the subcontinent that will have economic benefits for Southern Africa."

• SAPA (Komatipoort 06/06) reports that thousands of guests were expected to converge on the small Mozambican border town of Ressano Garcia on Saturday for the launch of the R2 million Maputo corridor toll road between Witbank and Maputo. The launch will be done by President Nelson Mandela and his Mozambican counterpart Joaquim Chisano. A large number of VIP guests arrived in Komatipoort by train and other visitors were expected to arrive by bus. Construction of the road has already started and was expected to take three years to complete. Trans African Concessions - the company who got the 30-year contract - said in a statement the remaining 27 years would be used for upgrading, maintenance, patrolling and operating the road. After 30 years, the road would be managed jointly by the South African and Mozambican governments. Transport Minister Mac Maharaj said in a statement the corridor attracted project proposals worth more than R35 billion. "The road opens a new chapter in relations between our two countries and we are proud to be building for the future with a government who stood behind us in the past," he said.

• SAPA (Nelspruit 05/06) reports that Government should take into consideration the impact of "illegal immigrants" on provincial economies when it allocated budgets to provinces, Mpumalanga finance portfolio comittee chairman Veli Mahlangu said on Friday. Mahlangu said in Nelspruit that "illegal immigrants" were costing his province's education and health departments thousands of rands by attending South African schools and getting treatment at local clinics, African Eye News Service reported. He said "illegal immigrants" from neighbouring Swaziland and Mozambique also claimed thousands of rands in pension payments. "This is a serious problem as we are not getting enough funding from national level because ‘illegal immigrants’ aren't included in the population census," he said.

• SAPA (Harare 04/06) reports that African refugees living in Zimbabwe say the tumbling currency has squeezed their pockets, making it increasingly difficult for them to survive in the country where many seek asylum. For two days this week about 100 refugees besieged the offices of the UNHCR in Harare demanding "meaningful allowances". Some 1500 refugees are officially registered in Zimbabwe. Two senior local UNHCR officials, who were kept hostage for one night by the demonstrating refugees, were set free on Tuesday afternoon after the Zimbabwean government intervened and the refugees' delayed stipends were disbursed. The UNHCR has warned that it will not be able to care for the world's refugees if contributions remain scarce and unpredictable. While the refugees in Zimbabwe say they understand the problems facing the UNHCR, they argue that their allowances in Zimbabwe should reflect the movement of the Zimbabwe dollar and the rising prices in the Southern African nation. The refugees say that their monthly stipends are paid late, and several have been evicted from their places of residence as a result. Those seeking accommodation say that once their potential landlords hear that they are refugees, they are turned away. They also "demanded that the subsistence allowance be given to a refugee unconditionally until he or she is employed or self-employed, or returned to their original home country". This is one of the major complaints of the refugees in Zimbabwe, who say that if they are students, once they finish their studies, then the UNHCR stops funding them.

• SAPA (Mbabane 01/06) reports that South African police have banned hundreds of Swazi students from crossing the border daily to go to school. Musa Sibandze, MP for the Matsanseni area in southern Swaziland where the students live, said he would take up the issue of the ban on their behalf. Swazi students living in the border area have been attending school in South Africa under an arrangement with the South African government. The ban followed the police's arrest last month of 40 elderly Swazis for allegedly fraudulently claiming South African pension payments and illegal possession of South African identity documents.

• The Star (01/06) reports that a Chinese national appeared briefly in Pretoria Magistrate’s Court charged with the possession of a South African passport that he apparently bought for R123 000. Wen-Yu Cahng (43) was found in possession of the new green South African passport introduced by the Department a few months ago which was supposed to be tamper proof. According to investigations officer Captain Blackie Swart, the passport was not falsified. Chang had filled in his particulars on a genuine passport, which was stolen from the state printers before being delivered to the Department. More than 20 blank passport were issued this way. Swart said police have recovered three such passports and know of the other 17 that have been issued. Chang said he entered South Africa to see if the passport could be used and planned to stay only a few days.

Updated August 27, 1998