Migration News - October 1999

October 1999

• Sapa-IPS (Cotonou 28-10) reports that a new refugee camp has been built in Kpomasse, near the Beninois capital Cotonou. It has an ideal capacity of 1200 people, but can accommodate up to 5000 if tents are used. It was built on 11 hectares donated by the Beninois government and cost 903 million CFA francs, largely financed by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). The Beninois Water and Electricity company (SBEE) donated the installation of water, electricity and other utility lines worth 212,310 CFA francs and the Beninois-Belgian Development Fund donated 95,189 million CFA francs to the project (600 CFA francs equals one US dollar). In addition to housing, the centre includes vocational training facilities, a 3-classroom elementary school, administrative offices, two generators, a dispensary and health centre, a complete computer set-up connected to the internet, and a recreational room. Currently, about 730 Congolese, 200 Nigerian, and 100 Togolese refugees live at the centre. Other refugees also living there are Burundian, Rwandan, Sudanese, Omani.

• Sapa (National Assembly 28-10) reports that since April 1994, the Department of Home Affairs has earned more than R77 million by charging foreigners for entry documents, according to Home Affairs Minister Mangosuthu Buthelezi. These fees were paid into the department’s account, which were in turn paid monthly into state coffers.

• Sapa (Johannesburg 28-10) reports that the number of Angolan refugees entering Zambia over the past few weeks has increased dramatically, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Due to renewed warfare between Unita and the Angolan army in Moxico province, 200 refugees cross from Angola into Zambia every month. Since early October, a total of 650 new arrivals were registered in the North Western province.

• East Cape News (Bisho 27-10) reports that the Eastern Cape Home Affairs Department has called on government, business and members of the public to submit suggestions for the draft White Paper on International Migration by 30 November. According to Eastern Cape Home Affairs regional director Lutando Myataza, the White Paper could affect the way the government deals with "illegal aliens": it will eventually result in a policy that governs migration and legislation that may revise the Aliens Control Act of 1991. Myataza said that while South Africa needed to ensure economic growth and development through foreign investment, the current Aliens Control Act deterred interested investors. The Health Department is also hampered by the current act since it depends upon foreign doctors to staff the health system in rural areas. If doctors fail to renew their work permits, they need to leave the country in order to reapply. Also to be affected by new legislation would be the areas of the Eastern Cape, including the towns surrounding the borders of Lesotho, which have "a problem with the control of aliens".

• Sapa-AFP (Lusaka 27-10) reports that since October 8^th, about 850 Angolans have fled to Zambia to escape fighting between the Angolan army and UNITA forces. Before the fighting intensified, Angolan refugees entered Zambia at a rate of about 100 per month. Zambia has been hosting Angolan refugees for about 30 years: about 32,000 are accommodated at two refugee settlements, while another 120,000 have settled informally along the border area.

• SAPA (26-10) reports that MPs and heads of foreign missions abroad often interfere with decisions that are, and should be, made by the Department of Home Affairs. Acting Home Affairs director-general, Dr. Khulu Mbatha, addressed members of the parliamentary portfolio committee on Home Affairs, stating that his department often received requests (36 in 1999) from MPs via the Minister or Deputy Minister to make exceptions in terms of the Aliens Control Act to allow certain foreigners some form of residential status. The Home Affairs Department then gave priority to those cases, forcing those who had applied in time to wait. Also, heads of foreign missions abroad sometimes insisted on making decisions that ought to have been the responsibility of the Home Affairs Department, creating more work for the already over-worked and under-staffed department. Another problem, according to Mbatha, was created when "illegal foreigners" approached the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) or the Public Protector to query decisions on their behalf, or approached the courts to overturn those decisions. Because of this, the department’s litigation budget was exhausted within the first two months of the year. Mbatha made several suggestions to alleviate these problems: separate, special courts to deal with migration cases; cessation of queries by the SAHRC and the Public Protector; increase department staff and budget to better reflect the numbers of immigrants it had to handle; more officials in consular offices abroad; and increased security at department offices (to prevent the theft of office equipment as well as stamps and permits).

• Panafrican News Agency (Johannesburg 26-10) reports that the Samora Machel Association, an NGO created in 1998 by Mozambicans living in South Africa, will intervene "fully and decisively" in all issues concerning "illegal immigrants" to ensure that they are protected from police abuses. According to the association’s head, Tomas Campira, the NGO will identify and report cases of police abuse of power particularly in the Lindela deportation camp.

• Sapa (Parliament 26-10) reports that the Home Affairs Department is considering handcuffing "illegal immigrants" to a light chain while being deported by train to prevent escapes and deaths. According to the acting Home Affairs Director-General, also being considered is the conversion of some train coaches to dedicated "repatriation vehicles". The South African Human Rights Commission is "looking at the viability" of these options. The department deports 147,000 Mozambicans and 86,000 Zimbabweans per year.

• Sapa (Lusaka 26-10) reports that more than 496 Angolan refugees have entered Zambia over the past four days, allegedly fleeing conscription into the UNITA rebel army. UNHCR information officer in Lusaka, Dominik Bartsch, said the refugees were being screened by Zambian security and would eventually be transferred to Maheba refugee camp near Solwezi. Zambia hosts 100,000 refugees from its six neighbours, mostly from Angola.

• Mail and Guardian (Johannesburg 25-10) reports that a government sponsored initiative, the South African Network of Skills Abroad (SANSA), aims to reverse the "brain drain" and make it a "brain gain" by contacting skilled South Africans who have migrated and getting them in touch with South African communities that could benefit from their skills. SANSA has sent out letters to 28,000 South Africans living abroad and 1800, living in 67 different countries, have already responded positively and joined the network. While Statistics South Africa estimates that 82,811 people emigrated from South Africa between 1989 and 1997, SANSA’s initial research indicates that the number is closer to 233,609 and that many of them are skilled. The programme is based at the Science and Technology Policy Research Centre at the University of Cape Town, but it is a country-wide initiative and would appreciate any publicity or advice that would allow it to make contact with more skilled South Africans abroad.

• Sapa-DPA (Lusaka 19/10) reports that about 1,250 Angolan refugees have arrived in Zambia over the past two weeks after central highlands fighting between government and UNITA forces, and more are expected. Permanent secretary Maybin Muganga of Zambia’s Northwestern Province appealed to the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Lusaka to "take stock of the new arrivals and provide basic human needs." A UNHCR spokesperson replied that while they were aware of the new influx of refugees, normal screening had to be followed in collaboration with the Zambian authorities to ascertain the refugees’ authenticity. Zambia already has more than 144,000 Angolan refugees throughout its northwestern and western provinces which share a border with Angola.

• Sapa (Parliament 19/10) reports that Parliament’s standing committee on labour heard a report from labour department director Fatima Bhyat detailing a long list of complaints from farm workers. The department received 4,336 complaints between January and September of this year. Bhyat reported that almost three-quarters of South Africa’s farm workers earn less than the poverty-line wage of R650 per month. Moreover, black workers only earned 7.5% of white workers (including farmers). Many of the farm workers are "illegal immigrants", preferred by employers because "they would settle for poor wages." Most complaints related to farmers ignoring the Basic Conditions of Employment Act. Among the complaints detailed were incidences of: the use of child labour; refusing workers leave; summarily evicting them from farms once their service was over; exposing workers to herbicides and pesticides; verbal and physical abuse; accommodations and sanitary facilities that are inadequate and unhygenic; preventing, by means of intimidation and violence, farm workers from joining unions; reporting "illegal immigrants" to police to avoid paying them; failure to register employees in terms of the Compensation of Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act and the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF). Draft legislation addressing these problems is expected to be ready by April 2000.

• Sapa (Parliament 19/10) reports that the Health Professions Council will lift a moratorium on registration of foreign doctors in April 2000, of the department of health has not implemented new regulations for their registration by then. The moratorium, which prevents the registration of most non-South African foreign-trained doctors, was imposed in 1995, pending publication of the new regulations. While the regulations are completed, their publication is being postponed until an on-going court case is resolved. In October of 1998, the Pretoria High Court agreed to allow 11 doctors, trained overseas but now South African citizens, to seek unrestricted registration. Previously, they were restricted to working in the public health sector. The council and health department are currently appealing that decision. No decision has been made by the health department on how to deal with the impending return, in 2004, of South African students studying medicine in Cuba. The Inkatha Freedom Party’s health spokesperson Dr.Ruth Rabinowitz said in a statement that "there were serious inconsistencies in the health department’s policies on foreign qualified doctors and the training of South African students in foreign countries."

• Sapa (Cape Town 19/10) reports that Democratic Party leader Tony Leon called on matric pupils to remain in South Africa and to make it a better place to live. "So many intelligent young people are leaving South Africa to pursue opportunities abroad. I hope that this trend will not continue because it is one which we, as a nation, can ill afford," Leon said.

• SAPA (Windhoek 14/10) reports that International Labour Organization (ILO) sponsored a meeting in Namibia on Thursday to develop a blueprint to provide guidance to the ILO in the development of programmes and initiatives to address AIDS/HIV. Among the many problems discussed, it was pointed out that the epidemic particularly affected the health and safety of certain groups of workers, one of those groups being migrant workers.

• SAPA-IPS (Lusaka 13/10) reports that renewed fighting in Angola is forcing refugees into Zambia. According to Dominik Bartsch, a United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) spokesperson, about 100 refugees per week enter Zambia from Angola. While the influx appears manageable, said Bartsch, the UNHCR is preparing itself to receive more refugees as the war in Angola escalates. Zambia currently hosts over 150,000 refugees, mostly from Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo, but also from Burundi, Rwanda, and Somalia.

• SAPA (Parliament 13/10) reports that 10,972 applications for and 11,063 renewals of work permits in South Africa were approved last year. 2, 452 applications for work permits were rejected over the same time period.

• SAPA (Parliament 13/10) reports that 6, 433 South African citizens emigrated last year, while only 4, 371 people immigrated to South Africa. According to Home Affairs Minister Mangosuthu Buthelezi, 5,105 of the emigrants and 1,920 of the immigrants were economically active. Most emigrants went to the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Germany, Namibia, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, and Australia. Most immigrants came from the United Kingdom, Zimbabwe, Germany, Lesotho, Ghana, Bulgaria, and the Netherlands.

• SAPA (Parliament 13/10) reports that South Africa is to ratify an international convention providing for free elementary education shortly which stipulates that countries should give foreign nationals resident in their territory equal access to education. Moreover, a recent Constitutional Court decision said that foreign teachers with permanent residence permits should be able to get permanent, not just temporary, employment. A Southern African Development Community protocol provided for easier access by SADC citizens to higher education institutions of other member countries.

• The Namibian (Windhoek 11/10) reports that the Immigration Tribunal decided on Friday to deport about 600 "illegal foreigners". Most of those now facing deportation are Angolan, although some were from Liberia, Burundi, Tanzania, Botswana, Mozambique, and South Africa. Some pleaded with Tribunal Chairman Bro Mathew Shingwandja to be deported to a country other than their country of origin, fearing retribution from the authorities there. Some alleged they had been mistreated after being detained, but Immigration Officials denied the claims.

• SAPA (Nelspruit 11/10) reports that the Association of European Parliamentarians (Awepa) is providing financial support for a six-month project with the aim of registering former Mozambican refugees for South African citizenship. The South African Cabinet agreed in 1996 to grant exemption to about 250,000 Mozambicans who fled from civil war in their country. Only those who came into South Africa before 1993 qualify for the project.

• SAPA (Durban 11/10) reports that a new Joint Port Drugs Unit started operations in Durban on Monday to increase the seizure of illicit drugs making their way through the port. The units consists of the South African Narcotics Bureau, the South African Revenue Service, and customs officials and will profile and target suspected drug shipments into the port.

• Sapa (Johannesburg 07/10) reports African Christian Democratic Party MP Kent Durr "decried the exodus of skilled and educated South Africans, who he said were benefitting other countries in Europe, the United States and Canada resulting in tax losses running to billions of rands." Durr made the comments during an address at the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung economic conference in Johannesburg on Thursday.

• Financial Times (London 05/10) reports "South Africa is suffering a serious ‘brain drain’, and the number of skilled people emigrating from the country is much higher than shown by official figures." The statement is based on a report released by the Cape Town- based Trade and Industry Monitor. The report says3/4 of South Africa’s emigrants went to US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand between 1989 and 1997, and that while the official number of emigrants to these countries is 82, 811, the actual number is 233,609. Also, "post 1994, the annual emigration of professionals was 56% higher than for 1989-94...between 1/8 and 1/5 of South Africans with tertiary education live abroad." According to the report, South Africa has a shortage of skilled professionals in such sectors as engineering and medicine. Moreover, immigration of skilled workers to South Africa has slowed and companies say it can be difficult to obtain short-term work permits for foreign technical and managerial staff. While stating that high rates of professional emigration are likely to continue, the report added that "the major cost to the country is in lost production and the export of human capital in the form of education, training and experience."

• Sapa-AFP (Victoria Falls 04/10) reports that at a conference organized by the Southern African International Dialogue, delegates identified tourism as a potential area for economic development and cooperation and began working on the creation of a task force to manage cross-border tourism corridors. The task force will work towards the removal of impediments such as restricted movement of tourists, visa requirements and improving flight schedules.

• The Progress (Freetown 02/10) reports immigration chief, Mr. Solomon Ngauoja warned senior officers of the Amalgamated Artisinal Boat men’s Union, AABU "not to allow foreign nationals to board vessels entrying the country without authentic traveling documents." According to The Progress, there have been persistent reports that "illegal immigrants" are entering the country on locally made boats, especially from Guinea. Ngauoja said that "the country has experienced a massive flow of illegal immigrants over the last couple of months."

Updated November 2, 1999