Protection and Dignity in Johannesburg: Shortcomings of South Africa's Urban Refugee Policy

Landau, Loren B.

doi:10.1093/jrs/fel012

Cited by 99 publications

(72 citation statements)

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“…The related studies include those on livelihood strategies, the rights and protection of refugees and asylum-seekers and xenophobia (see. among others, Landau, 2006;Jacobson, 2006;Crush & Dodson, 2007;Neocosmos, 2008).…”

Section: Factors Influencing the General And Subjective Well-being Ofmentioning

confidence: 99%

The expected well-being of urban refugees and asylum-seekers in Johannesburg

Greyling

2016

S. Afr. j. econ. manag. sci.

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The influx of asylum-seekers and refugees from across Africa into democratic South Africa has increased significantly. The aim of this paper is to determine the factors that influences the expect well-being of this unique group. Expected well-being is an important determinant of both the decision to migrate and the choice of a country of destination. Knowledge about this determinant therefore informs refugee policies. The results show that only a few of the factors found in the literature explaining the expected well-being of voluntary migrants also explain the expected well-being of forced migrants. However, a number of factors found in the literature that explain the subjective well-being and well-being in general of refugees and asylum-seekers also went towards explaining the expected well-being of this group. These factors include: government assistance, culture, the time spent in South Africa, economic factors, crime, refugee status, reasons for leaving the home countries and the number of people staying in a house in the receiving country. The findings of this study emphasise the differences between forced and voluntary migrants and highlight the factors that influence the expected well-being of forced migrants. These in turn shed light on migration decisions and the choice of destination countries.

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Section: Factors Influencing the General And Subjective Well-being Ofmentioning

confidence: 99%

The expected well-being of urban refugees and asylum-seekers in Johannesburg

Greyling

2016

S. Afr. j. econ. manag. sci.

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“…In addition, there is a growing body of evidence documenting how these discourses have translated into a myriad of exclusionary practices. Some of these undermine, but others are in keeping with, the country's constitutional framework and rule of law (Hölscher, 2014;Landau, 2006;Makhema, 2009;Vigneswaran, 2011). Either way, they exclude people from accessing essential opportunities and resourcesnot because access is illegal, but because as foreign nationals, they are framed as being outside "the universe of those entitled to consideration" (Fraser, 2008:19).…”

Section: Facing Obstaclesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, the grants are remedial in nature and therefore cannot address South Africa's chronically high levels of unemployment, underemployment and poverty (Ballard, 2013). Much like their South African contemporaries therefore, cross-border migrants have been found to rely on their own initiative and networks to survive (Amisi & Ballard, 2006;Crush, 2011;Hölscher, Sathiparsad & Mujawamariya, 2012;Landau, 2006Landau, , 2007.A recent survey of refugees and other migrants in four southern African cities, Landau and Duponchel (2011) found, following an analysis of the data for aggregate vulnerabilities and sources of resilience, that refugees, other migrants and indigenous residents in southern Africa's urban centres were all surviving self-reliantly, without "welfarist intervention" (Landau & Duponchel, 2011:13). The authors conclude that, "receiving refugee status is not a good indicator of someone's substantive experience, nor does it have a strong effect on welfare [needs]" (2011:2).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Subjectivities of Survival: Conceptualising Just Responses to Displacement, Cross-Border Migration and Structural Violence in South Africa

Hölscher¹

2016

SWORK

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This article considers the implications for social work of displacement, migration and structural violence in urban South Africa. To this end, I explore the life stories of five cross-border migrants. I find that all five form part of South Africa's larger pool of surplus populations but face additional, citizenship-based forms of exclusion. Even though generally self-reliant, all of them experienced cumulative agency constraints and felt vulnerable. Against this background, I propose that current, refugee-centred services should be expanded and that interventions should be carefully balanced to attend to structural issues, inter-group conflict and the range of vulnerabilities articulated by cross-border migrants. Ms SUBJECTIVITIES OF SURVIVAL: CONCEPTUALISING JUST RESPONSES TO DISPLACEMENT, CROSS-BORDER MIGRATION AND STRUCTURAL VIOLENCE IN SOUTH AFRICA Dorothee Hölscher INTRODUCTIONThe concept of justice is so complex that, according to Sen (2009), we are required to deduce many of its qualities and requirements from our awareness of what transpires in its absence: we know justice when it is lacking. Sen (1999Sen ( , 2009 maintains that for justice to prevail, certain conditions need to be present. For example, people require the "freedom to choose" (Sen, 2009:19) between different kinds of valuable beings and doings; they "have to be seen… as actively involved -given the opportunity -in shaping their own destiny" (Sen, 1999:53). In other words, agency is a constitutive component of justice. Yet while justice remains a generally accepted reference point in social work discourses and debates (Hölscher, 2012), questions of agency are considered less often. The purpose of this article is to apply the concept of agency in the analysis of cross-border migration to South Africa and to explore its implications for social work interventions and services in this field of practice.Since the end of apartheid South Africa has attracted cross-border migration at an unprecedented scale (Crush, 2011). For example, from 2006 to 2011 the country received the world's highest annual number of individual asylum applications (UNHCR, 2013).While it has been difficult to establish the total number of cross-border migrants living in South Africa (Crush, 2011), the number of registered asylum seekers and recognised refugees is currently in excess of 300 000 persons (UNHCR, 2015). The majority of migrants settle in South Africa's fast-growing urban centres (Landau, Segatti & Misago, 2011;UNHCR, 2015). These are dynamic environments characterised by inter alia escalating levels of poverty and degradation, and local authorities trying to meet their governance mandates within considerable budgetary constraints (Hart, 2013;Simone, 2004). A growing body of literature attends to issues of poverty and survival among South Africa's urban poor at large (see, for example, Simone 2004Simone , 2010Simone , 2011). Yet much is still to be understood about the specific challenges and survival strategies among cross-border migrants and how these migh...

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“…It is therefore imperative to ensure that domestic workers know their rights and how to claim them as entitlements in view of the fact that the South African legal system and laws recognise them (Landau, 2006). Being a casual or domestic worker does not limit the enjoyment of these protected labour rights (Thurman and Trah, 1990).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%