3.2. Forced Migrants in Johannesburg's Inner City
As said, all the interviews were focused on the
stories and experiences of FMs in the inner city, whose the outcomes will
be presented in three steps in this section. The first step will focus
on education and access to health care. The second will deal
with issues of discrimination, exclusion, and corruption facing FMs,
while the last step will reveal stories of xenophobia and police harassment.
3.2.1. Education and Health Care.
Access to the primary and secondary education for refugee
children remains a challenge for
the majority of families living in the inner city, for various
reasons. To know more about this problem, the following questions were
asked of parents and an asylum seeker attending tertiary education at
the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits University).
1. As a parent, what difficulties do you face in terms of sending
your children to school, and how do you manage to resolve these
difficulties?
2. As an FM, what motivated your decision to pursue your
studies at Wits University, and what challenges do you face?
3. As an FM living under the UNHCR and the SA government
protection, are you aware of your right to free health care?
According to the views of most FMs, access to the health care
is a challenge, especially for asylum seekers, in the sense that they do have
free access to primary health care in small local clinics, but the quality
of service delivery at these clinics is poor and limited. For example,
Mrs Vida Uwase, a married Tanzanian woman and the mother of two girls, states
that:
«Two months ago, I could even lose my four years child if I
did not have money to bring her
to the JH. My child was very sick and I took her to
Hillbrow Clinic because it is the only public health facility where I
could bring her as I do have an asylum seeker permit... The
nurse prescribed only Panado and gave me a referral letter to JH,
where I was required to pay
R 1800, 00 as a hospitalisation fee... yet, when I
arrived in Johannesburg in 2001, both
refugees and asylum seekers had free access to health care at
JH'
(Interview with Mrs Uwase, 2005). Mr. Anonymous One, a Congolese
MA student at Wits Universit y, also experienced a similar
problem when, in July of this year (2006), he was
required to pay R 200, 00 for medical consultation because of his
asylum seeker's permit. And yet, section 27 (b) of the 1998
Refugee Act stipulates that refugees should enjoy full
legal protection, which includes the rights set out in the Bill of rights
(Constitution, Chapter Two), including the right to access health care in
public hospitals.
Regarding access to primary and secondary education, Tshilobo
Sabwe (2005), a 49 year old
Congolese lady and the mother of nine children, told me that she
pays alone the school fees
for her children. She and her family fled the DRC for
political reasons. Her husband passed away in 1999 when they were still in
Zambia. Sabwe runs a small business at the Yeoville African Market in
order to feed and take care of her children and ground-children. As
a refugee, she emphasised that life in the inner city is very hard, adding
that:
«My children and I don't receive help from the South African
government, in terms of money
or foods... This year, I received financial supports from the
Jesuit Refugee Services (JRS), a Catholic organisation, which provided me some
money in order to pay the school fees of my children. This is a gesture that I
cannot forget».
(Interview with Sabwe, 2005).
According to Sabwe, education in SA is expensive, and the
majority of refugee parents are not able to afford it, given that most of them
do not work. She believes that the government and
the UNHCR should think about this problem in order to alleviate
their misery.
Sabwe continues b y saying that «We are feeling excluded
in this society... as the government cares only about South African citizens.
It does not even think about improving the quality of life of refugees and
asylum seekers living in this country. And yet, in some African countries,
governments provide money, food and accommodation to refugees
but, in SA, refugees must
do everything themselves... If the government thinks that it
cannot take care of us, why does
it not send us to other countries? And why it refuses to provide
us travel document that can allow us to go to other countries?» (ibid.,
2005).
Mr. Anonymous One, in turn, emphasises that he always
thought about pursuing his tertiary education, but was forced to flee his home
country, the DRC, because of political instability. Regarding his presence at
Wits University, he emphasises that he never thought about coming
to SA to study, adding that «if I was in my
country, I would have pursued my tertiary education there as I am doing
it here in SA» (Interview with Mr Anonymous One, 2006). He also emphasised
that, when he came to SA, his purpose was to seek for protection, but not to
study.
Talking about challenges he faces in the inner city,
Mr Anonymous has condemned the xenophobic and discriminatory attitudes of
the majority of South Africans towards foreigners. According to him, in SA,
xenophobia has generated exclusionary practices, especially in companies
(even in the government agencies and departments). As a result, these
companies
do not accept to hire FMs because of their permits. To
illustrate this issue, Mr Anonymous One gave his own example, saying
that «I have got qualifications but I cannot be hired... Recently
I applied for a job position but, my application was rejected because of my
permit. I have been asked to bring my Identity (ID) book. And yet, as an asylum
seeker, I have the right
to study and work in SA. Unfortunately, this right of FMs is
frequently violated and the NG is doing anything to protect it, although
it receives pressures from CSOs on this issue» (ibid,
2006).
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