“By a vote of 122 in favour to none against, with 41 abstentions*, the UN General Assembly adopted on the 28 of July 2010 a resolution calling on States and international organisations to provide financial resources, build capacity and transfer technology, particularly to developing countries, in scaling up efforts to provide safe, clean, accessible and affordable drinking water and sanitation for all.” (Source: http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2010/ga10967.doc.htm)
Most (if not all) of this blog’s readers (YOU and I) undoubtedly enjoy abundant water from their house taps, and a comfortable and private toilet for nature’s calls. Congratulations, and please keep on enjoying them as drinking water and sanitation are not yet an explicit human right for most of the adult population.
However, on Wednesday the 28th of July this situation might change as a new UN resolution, entitled “The Human Right to Water and Sanitation”, will be presented to the General Assembly.
REFUGEE SERIES:Anne Marie is not her real name. But after 16 years as a refugee and under renewed threat of xenophobic violence, she is still very afraid that being identified could lead to further upheaval, displacement or even death.
By Nicole Johnston
Regional Media Coordinator Oxfam
“I am from Rwanda. I left my country during the genocide in 1994. From there I went to a refugee camp in Goma, where I stayed for two months. Then it was two years in the camp in Bukavu. We stayed there until the RPF [Rwandan Patriotic Front] came and bombed our camp. We ran into the bush and we walked for about a week. We arrived in Uvila and then we got a boat to Zambia. I was nine months’ pregnant and I was so afraid I would give birth in that boat. When we arrived we had nowhere to go, but a Zambian family were very kind to us and took us to their home to spend the night.
“The next day they took me to the UNHCR who sent me to hospital. I had to stand the whole night while I was in labour, because there were no beds. After I gave birth we heard rumours that the Zambians wanted to repatriate the Rwandese refugees, and we were afraid because it wasn’t safe to go home.
REFUGEE SERIES:S’tha Ngwenya is a lawyer who fled Zimbabwe for both political and economic reasons. He believes that South Africa’s laws and its people are not on the same page.
By Nicole Johnston
Regional Media Coordinator Oxfam
For many migrants and refugees the old adage that “you can’t go home again” is painfully true. Having left their roots to forge a new life they may discover that while they are seen as interlopers in their new home, there is often a sense of disconnection from their old home.
“I feel like I don’t belong anywhere,” says S’tha Ngwenya, a lawyer who fled Zimbabwe for both political and economic reasons. “I feel stateless, I don’t know where to go.”
REFUGEE SERIES:Secretary of the Coordinating Body for Refugees Jacques Kikonga Kamanda has been living in South Africa as a Congolese refugee for the past 12 years. He believes South Africa is a beacon of hope to Africa and the failure to curb xenophobia is a tragedy for the continent as a whole.
By Nicole Johnston
Regional Media Coordinator Oxfam
Bundled up against the cold in layers of sweaters, a jacket and a woolly cap, Jacques Kikonga Kamanda greets us chuckling, “now I’m really dressed like a refugee”. The mischievous twinkle in his eye reminds me of Desmond Tutu, but when I draw the comparison he waves me away. “Oh no, not at all — he is a very great man!”
For many refugees and migrants, Kamanda too is a very great man: an elder leader who is a calm but determined advocate for their rights. He is a teacher by training and the scholarly air remains, as he weighs his words and tries to be fair, even to those who harm members of his community.
As secretary of the Coordinating Body for Refugee Communities, Kamanda carries the hopes and fears of foreign nationals living in South Africa. And ahead of the feared resurgence of xenophobic violence, those fears weigh heavily.
REFUGEE SERIES:Sulega Dahir has lived in South Africa in frustrating limbo for 15 years and feels there is no future for her children in this country. “I don’t have a passport so I can’t leave, but at the same time they don’t want us to stay,” she says.
By Nicole Johnston
Regional Media Coordinator Oxfam
Safia (17) has never been to Somalia. She has lived in South Africa all her life and says, “I feel more South African than Somalian,” in a broad Jo’burg accent. She has lots of friends, but this doesn’t mean she is entirely accepted – and her “otherness” is often used to exclude her.
Recently Safia – a keen footballer – was told she could not play soccer for a local girls team because she does not have a green South African ID document. “I used to play for Fordsburg Girls’, but they say you need an ID book to play. I showed them my refugee ID, but they said it was not good enough. They said if I don’t have a green ID, I must bring my mother’s work permit.” In reality, the law says that the maroon refugee ID entitles the bearer to all the same rights as a citizen, except they may not vote or access RDP housing. Many public officials, employers and community groups choose to overlook this fact.
REFUGEE SERIES:Dosso Ndessomin is a veteran trade unionist from Cote d’Ivoire. In the second of a series of interviews with migrants and refugees in South Africa, he tells us that migrants have an active role to play in ensuring that they integrate and are accepted into South African society.
By Nicole Johnston
Regional Media Coordinator, Oxfam
Dosso Ndessomin knows all about xenophobia – but he also knows how many South Africans are welcoming to foreign nationals. This is in no small part due to his willingness to share his skills and to find a new extended family in his new home. This veteran trade unionist arrived in the country in 1994 and quickly set about expanding his personal and professional circles. He set up a computer training centre in Soweto, offering free lessons and soon befriended residents in the township. “I was able to build up good relationships in the area, and eventually one family even adopted me as their own.” He later ran the Alliance Francaise in Soweto and now works with an international trade union, from their offices in Braamfontein.
He left his native Cote d’Ivoire after his union decided to break away from the national trade union federation because of concerns that it was in danger of becoming a sweetheart union. He has a B.Com and could have gone to Europe or the United States, but made a conscious choice to stay on the African continent.
Dosso’s dream is that Africa should become one, stretching across its 53 states in a sort of United States of Africa. Photograph: Nicole Johnston/Oxfam
REFUGEE SERIES:There have been rumours of renewed threats of xenophobia in some of South Africa’s townships and cities come the end of the continent’s first Soccer World Cup. Oxfam teams up with the Mail & Guardian to produce a series of interviews with refugees and migrants in South Africa. We speak to Sowda Hussen Mohamud, a refugee from the war in Somalia, who fled her country after threats from extremists who believe women should not be journalists.
By Nicole Johnston
Regional Media Coordinator, Oxfam
She’s a 22-year-old sports reporter with a passion for football in general, and Wayne Rooney in particular. If she wasn’t a journalist she’d like to be a professional footballer.
Not so unusual in South Africa perhaps, but what makes this young woman different is that she is a refugee from the war in Somalia, having fled her country after threats from extremists who believe women should not be journalists and should not be seen or heard on the airwaves. “They said I should choose between my profession and my life. I chose my profession and I left my home.”
She now freelances for Voice of America and Radio Bar Kulan, broadcasting to Somalia.
Leaving home was difficult, especially as she had to leave her aged mother behind. “I don’t have any choice. I left my country to get peace and to work. If you have a choice your own country is always the best place to be.”
REFUGEE SERIES:Refugees and migrants in South Africa fear that come July 12 the solidarity displayed around the World Cup may have withered away.
By Nicole Johnston
Regional Media Coordinator Oxfam
For many people in South Africa the end of the World Cup will mean more than packing away their makarapas and vuvuzelas, and returning to the old routine.
While the nation may have rallied behind Ghana as “Africa’s hope”, a different group of people fear that come July 12 that solidarity may have withered away.
Refugees and migrants dread the end of the World Cup, fearing they will see a repeat of the events of May 2008 when xenophobic violence across the country left 62 people dead, more than 100 000 displaced and millions of rands’ worth of property looted or destroyed. The emotional toll cannot be counted.
Somalis are fleeing to Johannesburg’s “Little Mogadishu” following threats of more attacks on foreign nationals after the World Cup.
By Nicole Johnston
Regional Media Coordinator Oxfam
Each evening in Mayfair’s “Little Mogadishu” in Johannesburg, the call to prayer drifts above the streets. Men hurry to mosque and hijab-clad women head home to prepare the evening meal. After prayers, men congregate in Somali restaurants and coffee shops, usually talking about business and news from home over a cup of qaxwo (Somali coffee). Recently, though, the talk has shifted.
Now, worries over intimidation of Somali traders in the townships and the threat of renewed xenophobic attacks after the World Cup are what dominate conversations. Trucks have been pulling up outside the houses of friends and relatives in the neighbourhood, Somali traders unpacking beds, TVs and sometimes the entire stock of their shops for safekeeping until, they hope, the danger has passed.
“These are the people who experienced the worst of the xenophobia in 2008,” said Amir Sheikh of the Somali Community Board. “They know if it starts again how it will end.”
