40 000 refugees in SA

2003-06-20 20:55

Cape Town - Even though refugees are entitled to the same constitutional rights as South Africans, they often end-up competing with the locals for access to essential social services provided by the government - and losing.

"Often they run into anti-foreign sentiments at clinics or other places where they should receive services. Also, they often do not have the papers they need to access services to which they are entitled," explains Vincent Williams of the South African Migration Project (SAMP).

South Africa has about 40 000 refugees, according to research published in 2001. The number could be more now.

The South African Constitution guarantees its citizens a range of social rights, including education, health and social security like the R120 monthly child support grant. Refugees are also entitled to these rights.

But South Africa does not have the resources to provide these services to its own poor who make up 45% of the country's population.

Mozambicans

The government is also concerned that it may be forced to extend social security rights to permanent residents from other countries, who are living in South Africa. Presently, the government is fighting a case in the Constitutional Court, in which human rights lawyers are trying to get it to extend social security grants to permanent residents, mainly from neighbouring countries.

The South African Department of Social Welfare estimates that 120 000 permanent residents - from Mozambique - have been exempted and are receiving assistance.

Some illegal immigrants are also believed to be abusing the system. There is no figure available for illegal migrants. But there were between 2.5 and five million of them in South Africa in 1998, according to the Department of Home Affairs.

Commenting on the Constitutional Court case in the daily newspaper, The Sowetan, the chief director of communications in the Department of Social Development, Mbulelo Musi, said South Africa was not in a position to extend assistance to all the poor from the continent who had reached South Africa.

Finite resources

"South Africa's commitment to political stability, peace, security and the economic reconstruction of the continent and its people remains unquestionable. Yet there is the reality of having to deal with limited and finite resources. This reality would of necessity make it impossible for South Africa to shoulder all the challenges of the continent's recovery," Musi said.

As the most economically developed country on the continent, he said, South Africa has a special role in efforts to tackle poverty in Africa - along with international agencies and donor nations.

More than 350 million people - over 50% of Africa's population - live below the poverty line of one US dollar a day, according to the World Bank.

Musi said South Africa's commitment to resolving conflicts in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Burundi, among others, and its leading role in New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad) - a programme to kickstart the social and economic development of the continent - was an indication of the country's commitment to alleviating poverty on the continent.

The debate about how much social assistance South Africa can extend to refugees and migrants from the continent was taking place just before the World Refugee Day, on June 20. The UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that there are about 4.17 million refugees on the continent.

20 million refugees

In a statement, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Rudd Lubbers, said: "This year's World Refugee Day is dedicated to millions of young people whose futures have been jeopardised by war, persecution and exile. If refugee situations drag on for years with no political solution in sight, the enormous potential of whole generations can be lost in the dust of a forgotten camp. This is a real tragedy."

He pointed out that of the nearly 20 million refugees in the world, about 35% of them youngsters between the ages of 12 and 24.

"If young refugees are not properly protected and denied opportunities to learn the skills they need to live productive, independent lives, they are likely to contribute to the next round of conflict," he warned.

In his message to mark the day, UN secretary-general Kofi Annan said: "In some parts of the world, boys as young as 15 are forcibly recruited to fight somebody's conflict, often for reasons they cannot comprehend. They are among the more than 300 000 young people between 15 and 17 fighting in some of the world's most violent wars".

"Even if they escape death or injury, they are traumatised for life by the brutality of the experience," he added. - Sapa-IPS

- SAPA