Migration News - September 1999

September 1999

• Sapa-IPS (Lusaka 30/09) reports that cross-border attacks by armed men believed to be Congolese soldiers have been reported in some parts of Zambia. The latest attack, in the farming district Mkushi, was reported earlier in the week and forced up to 5,000 villagers to leave their homes. Because of the attacks, Zambian authorities have tightened security on the borders with neighbouring countries currently at war but say it is hard to monitor the movements of refugees crossing the border with guns. There are 150,000 refugees in Zambia who have been fleeing conflict in the region since the 1960s.

• African Eye News Service (Pietersburg 27/09) reports that on Monday, Northern Province signed an agreement with Gaza Province in Mozambique to stop "illegal immigrants" from Mozambique coming into South Africa. Premier Ngoako Ramatlhodi and Gaza governor Eugene Numaio now have agreements on "illegal immigrants", illegal weapons, poaching, child labour, attracting investment, and assisting safari operators traveling through Gaza.

• Reuters (Cape Town 21/09) reports border police Commissioner Tienie Strydom reported to parliament’s Safety and Security Committee that South Africa’s borders "are wide open to criminals to come and go as they please because the police are unable to patrol them." According to Strydom, cross-border crimes "must be seen as one of the major contributing factors to the wave of crime sweeping" over South Africa and that lack of proper border control is costing South Africa billions of rand per year. Also, while over 25,000 "illegal immigrants" were apprehended last year, the border police have a staff of only 734, but a staff of at least 2,000 is needed to operate at all, let alone effectively, according to Strydom.

• UN Integrated Regional Information Network (Johannesburg 17/09) reports xenophobia against asylum seekers and "illegal immigrants" is increasing in some countries of Southern Africa, according to Clarence Tshitereke of the Southern African Migration Project (SAMP). According to a SAMP survey, 45% of South Africans want strict limits set on the number of foreigners entering the country, and 25% want a total ban on foreigners entering South Africa. This "subjective fear and absolute dislike" results in intense tension and violence by South Africans against immigrants. Xenophobia is exacerbated by negative media coverage of cross-border migration and by statements made by government officials. Dominik Bartsch of UNHCR agreed that "some government officials do perpetuate myths regarding refugees".

• UN Integrated Regional Information Network (Johannesburg 17/09) reports xenophobia against asylum seekers and "illegal immigrants" is increasing in some countries of Southern Africa, according to Clarence Tshitereke of the Southern African Migration Project (SAMP). According to a SAMP survey, 45% of South Africans want strict limits set on the number of foreigners entering the country, and 25% want a total ban on foreigners entering South Africa. This "subjective fear and absolute dislike" results in intense tension and violence by South Africans against immigrants. Xenophobia is exacerbated by negative media coverage of cross-border migration and by statements made by government officials. Dominik Bartsch of UNHCR agreed that "some government officials do perpetuate myths regarding refugees".

• Sapa-AP (Pretoria 16/09) reports that the flow of refugees from Angola’s civil war has slowed because hunger and fighting prevents it, according to Soren Jessen-Petersen, UNHCR’s assistant High Commissioner. He estimated 2 million Angolans have been displaced from the countryside to the cities due to civil war and 3 million rural Angolans are out of reach of aid workers because they live under the control of the rebel force UNITA. The conflict is one of 14 on the African continent, which has an estimated 7 million refugees, not including internally displaced people. According to Nicolas Bwakira, the UNHCR’s regional director for southern Africa, Zambia could accommodate another 50,000 refugees under emergency plans.

• Sapa-AFP (Nairobi 15/09) reports that the war in Democratic Republic of Congo has created 70,000 refugees and displaced hundreds of thousands of other people, according to Soren Jessen-Petersen, assistant to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). He said that Tanzania "has now received more than 100,000 refugees" and that large numbers of refugees have also traveled to Zambia, Angola, Congo, and Rwanda. Commenting on the signing of a recent ceasefire accord, Jessen-Petersen said, "A peace settlement, if taken hold and with international support...could not only preempt further flows but also eventually lead to return, which is the best solution....This is extremely important because many of those arriving in neighbouring countries have had a very serious destabilizing effect....Many of those 10 or 15 thousand who arrived (in Tanzania and the Central African Republic) were of a military background and they shouldn’t be there, they are not refugees." Jessen-Petersen pointed out that 7 million of the world’s 22 million refugees, displaced people and returnees were in Africa and that there is a 40% shortfall in the minimum of 300 million dollars the UNHCR says it needs for Africa in 1999. He commented, "We are seeing a funding disparity, close to what I would call funding discrimination between other parts of the world and our activities in Africa."

• Sapa-DPA (Addis Ababa 14/09) reports UN Assistant High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Soren Jessen-Petersen denied that his organization discriminates against refugees in Africa in favour of those in Europe. While he pointed out that his agency allocates 35% of its budget for refugees in Africa (which account for 30% of the world’s refugees), he also said "Still, we are50% under-funded in Africa" and that "it is much easier to get funds for Kosovo than for Liberia." Jessen-Petersen admitted some refugee camps in Africa were being used for "politicization and militarization" to destabilize countries neighbouring the one hosting the refugees and said that "the problems arise because governments abuse the principles of (hosting) refugee camps, not only in Africa but also elsewhere in the world."

• Sapa (Johannesburg 08/09) reports Gauteng provincial police commissioner Sharma Maharaj called for an immediate investigation into allegations of police throwing "illegal aliens" from moving trains. Newspaper reports claimed that Mozambicans from Bekkersdal on the West Rand fled from police during a raid on August 5. During the raid, it is alleged, a pregnant woman was smothered to death, a man was beaten to death, and those being deported were robbed and then thrown from speeding trains. West Rand police spokesperson Superintendent Milica Bezuidenhout said police had not "been able to find any of the bodies as alleged in the article, but that a full investigation would be conducted."

• AP (Johannesburg 07/09) reports Mozambican immigrants were beaten, robbed, and thrown, sometimes to their death, from moving trains by South African police, according to Sergio Machava, 22, a survivor. Bribes were also demanded of the Mozambicans, and those that did not pay were robbed. According to AP, the South African government spends $32 million a year deporting "illegal immigrants". A spokesperson for South Africa’s border police, Superintendent Martin Aylward, said that while he had not heard of the incident and that some deportees jump off when the train slows down on upgrades, he conceded that he was aware of corruption among border police, and would seek a statement from Machava.

• PANA (Blantyre 03/09) reports Malawi has "intensified [its] sweeping exercise to flush out the illegal foreigners who come [to Malawi]", according to Martin Mononga, chief immigration officer. In the past week, immigration officials arrested and deported about 50 "illegal aliens" from Ethiopia, Eritrea, Mozambique, Zambia, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Mali, India, and Pakistan.

• AFP (Nairobi 03/09) reports Kenyan security forces have detained at least 600 "illegal aliens", blaming them for increased crime in Kenya. Most "illegals" detained were Somalian and Ethiopian, although also targeted were Sudanese, Rwandan, Burundian, Eritrean and West Africans. Those detained will be arraigned in court, sent to refugee camps, or deported. In an attempt to prevent smuggling, criminal activities and the "proliferation of illegal firearms" from Somalia, Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi closed the border between Somalia and Kenya on August 22^nd and two days later ordered a ban on all flights to and from Somalia.

• AFP (Asmara 01/09) reports Eritrea has demanded Malawi pay compensation to the family of a man killed by immigration authorities in Blantyre last month. According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Eritrean man was shot and killed, while seven other Eritreans were shot and wounded, as immigration authorities struggled to force 25 "illegal" Eritreans to board a plane bound for Ethiopia. The Eritrean Foreign Ministry was told by Malawian authorities that the man’s remains were sent with the surviving 24 Eritreans to Ethiopia. Ethiopia is at war with Eritrea and had previously expelled the Eritreans to Malawi. According to the UNHCR, Malawi’s actions violated international treaties on the treatment of refugees.

Updated November 2, 1999