Migration: Impacts on South Africa - Research Paper Example

? Migration: Impacts on South Africa Migration: Impacts on South Africa The rampant growth of human mobility has become one ofthe crucial issues that have unquestionable effects on the socio-economic and political environment of current day South Africa. The positive aspects of migration cover the development in international entrepreneurship and human capital of the nation. In contrast, the growing anti-migrant sentiments and associated crises within the country is becoming a grave reality which could be attributed to the governmental laxity toward immigration policy formulation. The increasingly diverse population is also raising new issues related to gender, religion, and ethnicity. This paper will evaluate the multiple causes of the problem, governmental initiatives and their flaws. It will also explore the direct and indirect impacts of immigration on South Africa with regard to religion, women, and minorities. Since 1994 with the first democratic elections, migration to and within the country have been increased more than ever before. The May 2008 violence was the evidence of prevailing xenophobic notion which has turned to be the major impediment to the accomplishment of the nation’s long-term and short-term development targets. According to Landu and Segatti (2009), South African government has only a limited capacity to define its migration policy and to utilize the potential of migrant groups by integrating them into the developmental process of the nation. Irrespective of the specific causes of migration to the nation, the increasing human mobility has become the most significant factor that determines the political formation these days. The authors are skeptical of the relevance of the governmental record on the number of immigrants; according to them and many other researchers, the governmental inefficacy has favored illegal migration to be ‘bureaucratically invisible’ (Landu & Segatti, 2009). International migrants are little regulated or even their number has not been estimated yet; and therefore, it is difficult to restrict or control the illegal migration and ethnic conflicts. The 2008 violence is the most memorable one in the history of the nation, which evacuated and killed hundreds of immigrants in cities like Johannesburg and Cape Town. The victims of the riot included migrants from Zimbabwe, Somalia, and other African countries. As per the Guardian report, “more than 10, 000 Mozambicans fled south Africa to escape the attack” (Glendinning, 2008). Although the country is predominantly Christian, which constitutes around 80% of its total population, it does not have any biased stance toward any specific religious belief. The Christianity itself comprises large protestant denomination like Dutch Reformed Church, Methodists, Anglicans, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Baptists, and many more. In the same way, the population includes people with numerous traditional religious beliefs. For instance, the communities like the Khoisan, Bantu, Zulu and Xhosa have their own unique mode of religious practices. Obviously, Muslim community is getting its considerable hold especially among Black of South Africans with its major focus on urban areas such as Cape Town, Durban, and Johannesburg. According to the 2001 census (as cited in Migration Information Source), the ethnic groups like black Africans, white, colored, and Indian/Asian constituted 79%, 9.6%, 8.9%, and 2.5% of the population respectively. However, the major conflicts on the basis of religion often take place between Christian religious groups. Since the society has grown to be an agglomeration of various religious ethnic communities, religious sentiments have profound influence on the people especially in rural areas. They tend to pay high concerns on the religious or ethnic identity in every pace of social life. For instance, they commence all meetings with a prayer; and it would be a challenging experience for an outsider to adjust with the environment very soon. The problems associated with stereotyping are very often reported throughout the country that indicates the need of effective strategic formulation at the political level. For instance, as per the report of the Amnesty International (n.d.), the 2008 violence has intensified the governmental initiative on migration and human rights watch. According to the same report, one of the underlying notions of the xenophobia is that ‘foreign labors are taking away valuable jobs’ (South Africa Human Rights). If religion is of any relevance to the developmental process and sustainability of a nation is a debatable subject. As Rebecca Shaeffer, the fellow in the health and human rights division of Human Rights Watch says, “migrants to South Africa are abused in transit, attacked upon arrival, and then denied care when they are injured or ill” (Shaeffer, 2009). According to experts, the health care service in the country is not able to provide culturally competent care to people. Many of the foreign nationals are deprived of their medical rights just because of their social identity. Like religious issues, gender based violence also is common in the country with majority of the victims from minority groups and foreign immigrants. One of the notable aspects that deteriorate the women’s condition is the higher rate of HIV infection. According to the UNICEF report, ‘women who are in abusive relationships’ are prone to HIV infection as compared to others. And the reason for this dependency deserves to be noticed in this context because many of them wanted to ‘avoid further domestic violence, abandonment, or loss of financial support’ (Gender-based violence). Another type of gender-based violence prevailing over the society of South Africa is rape or sexual harassment. Alarmingly, the nation ranks the highest proportion of reported rape cases in the world; and on the other side of the coin, only one in nine cases is actually reported (Tackling gender-based violence in South Africa). The governmental capacity to strengthen legislative protection is questioned by many non-profit organizations these days. People Opposing Women Abuse (POWA) is one among them which provides asylum to women affected by gender-based violence. The organization tends to assist the victims of gender-based violence to rebuild their confidence so that they would come back to the stream of normal life. In short, South Africa has been striving to formulate a migration policy that would par with the changing political environment in the whole African region, and to address the mounting xenophobic aspirations across the country. Despite the various efforts taken, foreign nationals living in South Africa often confront with prejudice, discrimination, abuse, and human rights violation on the basis of religion, sex, nationality, and ethnicity. Cross border migration from Zimbabwe, incessant corruption, poor execution capacity, highly fragmented social classes and many other factors also have contributed to the complexity of immigration issues in South Africa. References Glending, L. (23 May 2008). ‘Violence in South Africa spread to Cape Town’. Guardian.co.uk. retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/may/23/zimbabwe ‘Gender-based violence’. (n.d.). South Africa. UNICEF. Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/southafrica/hiv_aids_729.html Landu, L. B. & Segatti, A. W. K. (2009). Human development impacts of migration: South Africa case study. United Nations Development Programme. Human Development Reports. MPRA. Retrieved from http://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/19182/ ‘Tackling gender-based violence in South Africa’. (n.d.). Irish Aid. Department of Foreign Affairs. Retrieved from http://www.irishaid.gov.ie/Uploads/South%20Africa%20tackling%20gender%20based%20violence.pdf Shaeffer, R. (2009). South Africa: Improve migrants’ access to health care. Human Rights Watch. Retrieved from http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/12/07/south-africa-improve-migrants-access-health-care ‘South Africa’. (n.d.). Migration Information Source. Mpi. Retrieved from http://www.migrationinformation.org/Resources/southafrica.cfm ‘South Africa Human Rights’. (n.d.). Amnesty International. Retrieved from http://www.amnestyusa.org/all-countries/south-africa/page.do?id=1011238 Read More