Xenophobia: 'SA govt to blame'

Johannesburg - Experts on Wednesday slammed what they called South Africa's lack of a migration policy on Africans, saying it was a major reason for recent xenophobic violence.

"There is a gross negligence on the part of officials to manage migration and understand other Africans. There is a need for a humane and sensible migration policy in South Africa," said Ann Bernstein of the Centre for Development and Enterprise (CDE), an independent policy research body.

A "proper and coherent" policy on migration should recognise the "inevitability" of African immigrants in South Africa, she said in a roundtable discussion on migration.

"We have to face the challenge (of migrants) in South Africa instead of panicking about them," she said.

More than 60 people were killed across the country in xenophobia attacks in May, which began in Johannesburg.

Negative perceptions about immigrants must be taken seriously by policy makers, she said.

According to a 2006 CDE survey on migration in Johannesburg, around 14% of the city's 3.9 million population, or about 550 000, are foreigners.

Sixty percent of foreigners, most of whom "make a positive contribution" to the South African economy, experience negative treatment in Johannesburg, the study said.

Education on migrants

South African officials should deal with migration in ways that give citizens "confidence on the positive contribution" of migrants to the nation's development, the study said.

Mamphela Ramphele, a former co-chair of the Global Commission on International Migration, said South Africa was not "conducting itself in a proper human rights manner," adding that it needed to learn from other countries such as Canada and Australia on migration management.

She said a government policy should also include the education of citizens on immigration in all its ramifications: who immigrants are, their situation and what has driven them out of their country.

"Government should do much to educate South Africans about other Africans," she said.

"There is complete disconnectedness between various government departments... Home Affairs department officials treat our African migrants as a nuisance and without respect," she added.

Philip Martin, a professor of economics at the University of California, said that there was a need for reliable data on migration in South Africa to allow for proper government planning, citing Costa Rica and Malaysia as some countries with good policy on migration.

- AFP