Robert Mugabe's presidential procession. Courtesy of flickr.

What is the current state of the refugee situation in South Africa? Have there been any bright spots with regard to the state of refugees?

The situation of refugees in SA is both horrendous and pathetic. The Zimbabwe Exiles Forum (ZEF) is convinced that the system in practice violates not only the norms and principles of international law such as those enshrined in the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (1951) and its 1957 Protocol to which the country is party, but also South African law itself. The Constitution of South Africa, the Immigration Amendment Act (2004) and the Refugee Act (130 of 1998) which became effective in 2000 have a plethora of asylum seekers and refugee rights that have been violated on a huge scale. Among other things, the Refugee Act provides for the right to non-refoulment and “full legal protection”, including enjoyment of the rights enshrined in Chapter 2 of the Constitution. Apart from socio-economic entitlements to health, food, housing and education, Chapter 2 protects rights such as equality, dignity, security and life.

That notwithstanding, from the beginning of the asylum seeking process, the system is fraught with insensitivity, inordinate delays, corruption, and brutality by state officials. For example, those trying to access the system in most instances report demands for bribes, inhuman and cruel treatment, and sometimes demands for sexual favors. Access to basic rights such as health, education, employment, food and shelter is also a major problem either because policy is not implemented, or because there is no policy in place to ensure that these rights are accessed.

Recall the foreigners, including asylum seekers and refugees, who suffered the most terrible xenophobic attacks on the continent in 2008. These attacks were targeted mainly against Zimbabweans and Mozambiqueans and left 62 people dead and over 100,000 displaced. A significant number were raped, robbed, and had their possessions burnt. The situation is exacerbated by leaders who, for political reasons, accuse foreigners of stealing jobs, increasing crime, and spreading HIV-AIDS. These people have largely gone unpunished for their incitement; out of the 1500 people arrested for xenophobic attacks last year, only about 300 have appeared in court to date.

Though they never fail to disappoint, there have been endless workshops and declarations of intentions to improve the situation. Predictably, this has not translated into tangible improvement on the ground. But on the other hand, in April the Ministry of Home Affairs introduced special six-month permits for Zimbabweans, who are the majority of asylum-seekers in the country. This permit allows Zimbabweans entering the country to work and to study. This has the potential to reduce congestion at Refugee Reception Centres in the country. In addition to this development, the fact that SA has scrapped the visa requirements for all Zimbabweans entering the country for at most three months has decreased harassment and abuse at the hands of the police and Home Affairs officials.

How pervasive are human rights abuses, particularly around refugee camps? Who preys on the refugee population?

There are no official refugee camps in South Africa. However, there are informal ones, such as Malas in Pretoria. Because the camps are not officially recognized, no security is provided.

The perpetrators of most crimes against refugees and asylum-seekers are the police, home affairs officials, the army, the ordinary people and criminals. Because the police are sometimes implicated in these crimes, very few are caught and punished.

What are the best strategies for reducing the population of humanitarian aid camps? How can asylum be granted in an equitable and sustainable manner?

Humanitarian Aid camps that had been set up under the auspices of the UNHCR following the xenophobic attacks have already been dismantled. There is need to increase refugee reception centers as well as to decisively deal with the corruption that bedevils the Home Affairs Department.

What channels are available in South Africa to deal with the refugee population? How can these mechanisms be improved?

Refugees in SA ordinarily, and in principle still do, have access to the legal system that any citizen has access to. However, due to entrenched xenophobic tendencies, discrimination, lack of resources, as well as (in at least some instances) lack of knowledge regarding entitlements and rights, many asylum seekers and refugees cannot enforce rights that should have been available to them. For instance, recent indications show that some employers hire asylum seekers and refugees but, towards month-end when the workers should be paid, fire them and simply never pay the workers. There are also police officers who demand bribes.I If they have not been given bribes, they tear up documents for asylum seekers and refugees so that they are placed under the real risk of deportation. The Zimbabwe Exiles Forum has received others who have been refused treatment in hospitals even though they are documented asylum seekers and refugees. Many of those who suffer from such abuse either do not know where to report or are afraid to do and therefore are deprived of their rights.

Jacob Zuma has long been a critic of Robert Mugabe and has sharply broken with the “quiet diplomacy” of Thabo Mbeki. Have the recent South African elections affected South African policy toward Zimbabwean refugees?

I do not agree that Jacob Zuma “has long been a critic of Robert Mugabe.” Until three years ago, he served as the Vice-President of South Africa and not once did he break ranks with Thabo Mbeki’s government, even after he left its Cabinet. The statements that he has made recently are encouraging in the sense that they seem to acknowledge the urgency with which we should view the crisis in Zimbabwe ˗ a belateddeparture from Mbeki’s denialism.

The recent elections in South Africa have not changed South African policy towards asylum seekers and refugees. All the changes with regards to Zimbabweans discussed above were long in the pipeline. In my opinion they were also face-saving changes designed to circumvent an admission that Zimbabweans should qualify as refugees (the South African government has always maintained that Zimbabweans crossing into SA should be classified as economic migrants rather than refugees). I think that it is too early yet to see any changes as the new Minister of Home Affairs, former Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dhlamini-Zuma took office a few days ago. There was fear that there would be more xenophobic flare-ups during the run-up to the elections. Indeed, there were some attacks in Durban for example, but the attacks were not widespread.