30 May 2008: ISS Today: South Africa: Government Shies Away From Calling Victims Refugees

30 May 2008: South Africa: Government Shies Away From Calling Victims Refugees

 

The South African government this week agreed to set up temporary camps for around 40 000 people in the areas most affected by xenophobic violence around the country. Yet it doesn’t want to call these refugee camps. This is despite the call from organizations like Medecins sans Frontieres and some of the displaced groups for the camps to be set up and run by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) on the same model as refugee camps elsewhere in Africa.

 

The argument against calling these camps “refugee camps” is firstly that those in the camps are not officially classified as “refugees”. There seems at this stage little chance of the recently displaced obtaining refugee status since it has been government policy since the end of apartheid that those fleeing hardship from their countries in the rest of Africa should be integrated into communities. Only a few thousand Somalies, Zimbabweans and others yearly receive the sought-after refugee status. Ironically, former MDC parliamentarian and staunch opponent of pres. Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe was accorded refugee status following a high-profile appeal in January 2007. Many other Zimbabweans have not been so lucky.

 

The second argument against refugee camps is that South Africa disposes of sufficient resources – from the state, charities, business and individuals – to help the displaced without placing these under the sole supervision of the UN.

 

Thirdly the argument is that with this strategy a situation of prolonged refugee camps, as seen elsewhere in Africa, can be avoided.

 

The refusal by the South African government to let the UNHCR handle the crisis from the start and to recognize a very serious refugee crisis, however, also stems from a deep resistance to tainting South Africa’s image as the peaceful, stable, democracy with the experience and maturity to teach other African countries about reconciliation and nation-building. The refusal by the government to recognize the crisis in Zimbabwe and accord some kind of humanitarian status to those fleeing the crisis is part of this aversion to “giving South Africa (and indeed Africa) a bad name”. This week a Malawian commentator said the refusal by South Africa to recognize the plight of 3 million Zimbabweans has now put the lives of 3000 Malawians in danger.

 

The actions of a group of Somali refugees in a camp in the north of Pretoria, who refused to accept any help from South African authorities and insisted on being repatriated to countries such as Canada and the US, has made matters worse for those arguing for  UN-supervised camps. This created the impression some refugees are using the xenophobic violence to better their own situation. There are also reports that some in the camps have not in fact been affected by the violence, but joined friends and family in the hope of repatriation to a better place. This, however, does not justify ignoring the tens of thousands of others who do need urgent help.

 

In the last few days the UNHCR has started to get involved in the humanitarian relief for the victims of xenophobia, having already donated 250 tents and 6000 blankets and mattresses. Another 2000 tents will be made available in the next week and a delegation from the organization is set to arrive this weekend to help with further planning. This could however been done much earlier in the process. As humanitarian organizations have pointed out, South Africans certainly might have the willingness and the financial resources to help refugees, but the UN has the logistical know-how to ensure refugees are protected from further violence (there are already reports of rape and sexual harassment in temporary shelters); that the spread of disease is contained and to organize repatriation.

 

Allowing the UNHCR to assist is a practical and necessary step in ensuring the safety and health of those who are suffering in make-shift shelters outside police stations and community halls.

 

Liesl Louw, Associate Editor, ISS

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