Why are there refugees, asylum seekers and undocumented immigrants in South Africa?

Over the last few years there has been an influx of immigrants into South Africa from countries in Southern Africa, particularly from Zimbabwe.  The actual number of undocumented Zimbabwean individuals living in South Africa is unknown; estimates range from 1 to 5 million. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has stated “there is clearly a humanitarian crisis when so many people feel compelled to leave their country.”[i]

The political and economic crises in Zimbabwe are worsening at a shocking rate.  In 2005, the government-sponsored “Operation Murambatsvina” was implemented to clear urban slums, thereby depriving more than 18 percent of the population of homes or livelihoods and badly damaging Zimbabwe’s informal job sector.  Since then, official inflation has risen to over 100,000 percent.   According to the International Crisis Group:  unemployment is over 85 percent, poverty over 90 percent, over four million persons are in desperate need of food, and thousands are dying every month from malnutrition and HIV/AIDS.[ii]   UNICEF and the WHO both claim that the average life expectancy is now the worst in all of Africa; in 1990, the life expectancy of a Zimbabwean was 60 years, now the life expectancy has plummeted to 37.[iii]

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has only recently ceased fighting the Second Congo War, a war waged within the DRC from 1998 to 2003.  This was the world’s deadliest conflict since World War II, where as many as five million people died.  Fighting continues in the eastern part of this country to this day.[iv]   The United Nations claims that as many as 1,000 people a day are still dying as a result of the conflict.[v]  Women have an especially difficult life in the DRC, suffering from “unimaginable brutality that goes far beyond rape,” according to UN officials.  It is not uncommon for women to be gang rape, “often in front of their families and communities.  In numerous cases, male relatives are forced at gun point to rape their own daughters, mothers and sisters.”[vi]  The DRC is not the only country suffering from violence and great human rights’ atrocities.

Somalia is another country with a history steeped in violence, which continues to create refugees to this day.   Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called the current situation in Somalia, “dire.”  They’ve called on the UN Human Rights Council to draw more attention to the human rights “crisis” occurring in Somalia.[vii]  Somali civilians have been terrorized by targeted and indiscriminate attacks, enforced disappearances and mass arbitrary arrests.  Violence, fear and threats of violence continue in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia.  Since December 2006, an estimated 400,000 people have been displaced from Mogadishu due to the ongoing violence.[viii]

All immigrants and asylum seekers have left their countries for two main reasons:  they fear for their lives or they are driven by destitution to seek a life free of starvation.  Upon entering South Africa, every immigrant has the legal right to apply for refugee status by reporting to the Department of Home Affairs within 14 days of arriving in the country.  Until they have placed their application, immigrants are illegal and can be deported at any time.  The renewable temporary papers issued to all asylum seekers by the government mean they can remain in South Africa legally for 6 months, while awaiting an official decision.

The government of South Africa has neglected its legal responsibility to process asylum seeker applications.  They are unable or unwilling to process applicants in a timely manner.  The South African government has over 140,000 applications still awaiting decisions; this is just the official government backlog figure. This figure does not represent the actual number of immigrants in the country who are attempting to put in their applications. Furthermore, thousands of refugees continue to cross the border into South Africa every day, increasing the actual number of applications that need to be processed.[ix]

Before PASSOP held public protests, the Department of Home Affairs in Cape Town was only processing, on average, 20 applicants each day during the past five years. Since the PASSOP protests, around 200 applicants are processed daily.  That is still not a large enough number, as thousands of refugees continue to move into Cape Town and the surrounding townships each month. 

While refugees are waiting, trying to fulfil their legal application and put in their application for official status to legally live in South Africa, the conditions they are forced to live in while waiting in the queue in Cape Town are dreadful.  Some refugees are forced to wait more than 4 weeks, just to put in their application.  During this time, they must live and sleep outside the Refugee Centre, with no protection from the elements, so they do not lose their place in the queue.  Refugees can be arrested and deported if they leave this designated area at any time during the process, even if they leave to go in search of food.  Conditions are so deplorable, in fact, that last year one refugee, Adonis Musati, died of starvation while waiting in the queue.

Regardless of their documentation status, all persons within South Africa are guaranteed basic human rights, according to the South African Constitution.  The Bill of Rights entrenches the rights of “everyone” in South Africa to: equality before the law, human dignity, personal freedom and security, privacy, due process of law, freedom of expression and association, fair labor practices, adequate housing, health care, sufficient food and water and social security.[x]  In practice, however, they are often completely neglected by the state.

[i] Redden, Jack. “Determined Zimbabweans Flow Into South Africa.” UNHCR News Stories.  October 9, 2007.  Online:  http://www.unhcr.org/news/NEWS/470b8baf4.html

[ii] “Zimbabwe Country Report.”  International Crisis Group.  March 17, 2008. Online:  http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=1233&l=1

[iii] McGreal, Chris.  “The Wasteland:  Inside Mugabe’s Crumbling State.”  The Guardian.  Saturday, March 17, 2007.  Online:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/mar/17/topstories3.zimbabwe

[iv]“The Democratic Republic of the Congo.” Wikipedia. Online: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Republic_of_the_Congo

[v] Osem, Jiro. "Congo crisis at "make-or-break" point -UN's Egeland". Reuters Alertnet, 06 Sep 2006

[vi]RTE News. “UN: Violence in Congo Goes Beyond Rape.” Monday, July 30, 2007. Online: http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/0730/rape.html

[vii]Human Rights Watch.  “UN Should Tackle Human Rights Crisis” March 3, 2008. Online: http://hrw.org/english/docs/2008/03/03/somali18201.htm

[viii] Ibid.

[ix] Redden, Jack. “Determined Zimbabweans Flow Into South Africa.” UNHCR News Stories.  October 9, 2007.  Online:  http://www.unhcr.org/news/NEWS/470b8baf4.html

[x] Kriger, Norma.  “Keep Your Head Down:  Unprotected Migrants in South Africa.”  Human Rights Watch, Volume 19, No. 3 (A). February 2007.  p. 36.