• Embed Doc
  • Copy Link
  • Readcast
  • Collections
  • CommentGo Back
Download
 
Report of the Conference on ‘Refugees Integration in South Africa:Ensuring Integration, Dignity and Safety for Refugees’
Tuesday 18 June 2009
Summary
The conference was jointly organized by Southern African Media and Gender Institute (SAMGI), Democratic Governance and Rights Unit (DGRU) and theUnited Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR)
 
as part of the activitiesof Refugee Month and highlighted the plight facing the thousands of refugees inSouth Africa at present.Discussions focused on the reasons for refugees seeking sanctuary in SouthAfrica, their problems not only in obtaining the papers needed to ensure that their presence in the country was legal but also the problems of social and economicintegration and not least of all, the daily dangers of discrimination, humiliation,physical assault, torture and even murder.Much was said about the incapacity or inability of the Department of Home Affairsto assist refugees, the role its ineptitude played in exacerbating the plight of refugees and the question of whose responsibility it was to ensure the safety of refugees and their families while they were in South Africa.There was considerable discussion about obstacles to the successful integrationof refugees into society, such as xenophobia and discrimination and the roleSouth Africa’s apartheid history and entrenched racial segregation played infostering anti-refugee sentiment and fear among local communities.Also discussed were the crucial role that the right of access to information couldplay in assisting refugees and the relevance of legal instruments such as theConvention on Refugees and South African law relevant to the rights of refugees.At one stage the conference was divided into smaller “commissions”, in whichdelegates could choose to participate and which then discussed and reportedback on the following related topics:
•
Commission 1: The safety and security of refugees;
•
Commission 2: The socio-economic integration of refugees;
•
Commission 3: Socio-cultural convergences and divergences; and
Southern African Media and Gender Institute
P O Box 15994 Vlaeberg 8018 Cape Town South Africa4
th
Floor Dumbarton House, 1 Church Street,Cape Town, 8001 South AfricaTel: +27 21 424 0653 / Fax: +27 21 424 0659
www.samgi.org.za
 
•
Commission 4: The position of women and children refugees in ‘camps’.The conference urged all those participating to take the ideas discussed duringthe conference back home with them, to keep the dialogue alive and to takeresponsibility for helping to alleviate the plight of refugees.Participants were urged to spread the message that far from being an enemy,refugees had a meaningful and useful contribution to make to society and shouldbe welcomed in such a spirit.
Attendance
Approximately 70 people attended the conference. This includes members of civilsociety, international organizations, academics, media and interested individuals.Government officials have been invited but no one attended.
Overview of programme and Panelists presentations
After the Welcoming, overview of Programme and introductory word, differentpanelists have delivered their presentations. Ms Tracey Saunders (CommunityActivist) presented on the ‘situation of refugees in camps’; Mr. Mukelani Dimba(ODAC) on ‘The right of access to information’; George Pambason (AFRISA) on‘Institutional failure to promote social cohesion in society’ and; Dr. LawrenceMgbanson (UNHCR) on ‘Rights of freedom of movement and freedom of residence’.
Break Away Sessions
The conference participants were divided into four (4) “commissions” and thendiscussed and reported back on the following related topics:
Commission 1: Safety and Security for Refugees
This group summarised their discussions as follows:Safety and security is patently lacking and there is a pervasive feeling of fear among refugees. This lack of safety and fear affects not only refugees but allSouth Africans. Therefore the causes and the effects of this state of affairs arevery complex.
•
There is a lack of integration of refugees at schools;
Southern African Media and Gender Institute
P O Box 15994 Vlaeberg 8018 Cape Town South Africa4
th
Floor Dumbarton House, 1 Church Street,Cape Town, 8001 South AfricaTel: +27 21 424 0653 / Fax: +27 21 424 0659
www.samgi.org.za
 
•
A sense of identity is crucial to ensure the safety of refugees;
•
The safety of refugees is not the sole responsibility of the Department of Home Affairs but should be borne by other state departments as well;
•
NGOs play a crucial role in assisting refugees;
•
For refugees, financial security is equivalent to physical safety;
•
Job security is another serious concern;
•
The Department of Home Affairs is exacerbating the plight of refugeesinstead of alleviating it: Unless one is disabled, an unaccompanied minor or drastically ill, it is often impossible to get into its offices;
•
The Department of Home Affairs is failing to provide the services refugeesneed and perhaps the time has arrived for the UNHCR to intervene;
•
At the department’s Nyanga office, refugees stay overnight, waiting to beattended to and are very vulnerable to physical assault;
•
The case of a refugee who died of starvation while waiting in a queue lastyear was recalled;
•
Refugees need to ask what they themselves can do to alleviate their plight;
•
Those who most need to attend these types of conferences – such asxenophobic criminals – never do attend;
•
The lack of resources to assist refugees is a national problem.
Commission 2: How to Ensure the Socio-Economic Integration of Refugees
This group summarised its discussions as follows:
•
The lack of information is a central problem: Both refugees and thosemeant to be assisting them lack information on the rights of refugees;
•
The government seems to be refusing to deal with barriers to integration.
•
South Africans have intense feelings about their entitlement to jobs but atthe same time there is a serious shortage of skills nationally;
•
New legislation as well as protocols are badly needed to enable refugeesto work legally;
•
Refugees need to be given sufficient information to assist them as soon asthey arrive in the country – such as information on hospitals, schools,police stations and other vital sources of help;
•
Even legislation is not enough – state officials such as magistrates andpolice officers need to be informed about the rights of refugees and howthey should be treated;
•
There is a great need for a website on which qualified refugees canadvertise their services and skills;
Southern African Media and Gender Institute
P O Box 15994 Vlaeberg 8018 Cape Town South Africa4
th
Floor Dumbarton House, 1 Church Street,Cape Town, 8001 South AfricaTel: +27 21 424 0653 / Fax: +27 21 424 0659
www.samgi.org.za
of 00

Leave a Comment

You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...
You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...