MIGRANTS IN SOUTH AFRICA OPINION PIECE BY NAVI PILLAY UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

9 July 2010

By hosting the World Football Cup, South Africa has shown that it can welcome visitors from all over the globe with flair, generosity and warmth.  It should now prove that it is also able to extend such hospitality and tolerance to migrants seeking a better life and protection in the country of Nelson Mandela.  

I am alarmed at recurrent episodes of attacks against non-nationals in my country.   Reportedly, perpetrators of these attacks have largely been able to bank on impunity and have even been celebrated as heroes in their own neighborhoods.  In contrast, victims were granted no solace, no redress and no compensation for the loss of their meager property and for their suffering.

This approach must be reversed.   The protection of all migrants is one of today’s most compelling human rights issues.  Indeed, the scale and complexity of migration is fast increasing. Currently, around 214 million people live outside their country of origin, many having moved for a variety of reasons in which the search for protection and the search for opportunity are often inextricably entwined.

There is no denying that migrant inflows represent an even greater challenge for countries that have their own daunting problems of poverty and scarcity of resources like South Africa.   

To be sure, the global economic crisis has further aggravated the vulnerability of migrant workers and their families. In times of economic hardship calls to reduce migration tend to be based on the false perception that “migrants take jobs” or “compete for welfare benefits,” when in fact the majority of migrants create economic activity and employment. These calls mostly ignore hard facts and stir anxiety and mistrust in host countries. 

Indeed, human mobility, as underscored in UNDP’s 2009 Human Development Report, makes economies more dynamic and more efficient. As the International Labour Organization has noted, migrants and their work are actually part of the solution to the present economic challenges, not the problem.  Migrants help to create employment, working in jobs that others shun or lack the skills for.  They expand demand and wealth that benefit the whole society, as well as their own families, and in many cases their countries of origin. 

The same report also explains how development and human rights protection are mutually reinforcing. Migrants who are fully integrated as active members of the society, do ‘decent’ work, and are able to speak out against discrimination or abuse, are more productive and contribute more to host societies than those who are exploited and socially excluded.

But empowering migrants to claim their rights does not occur automatically.  It requires dealing with misperceptions.  To begin with, it must also be recognized that, while the economic benefit of migration to host countries is well documented, these benefits do not necessarily accrue equally to all sectors of society.  Migration may affect negatively a fragile underclass already living at subsistence level, particularly in the agricultural, manufacturing and service sectors, or in the informal economy.  The already disadvantaged may--and often do--regard with suspicion and misgivings any external competition.  Opening dialogue among migrants and host communities is therefore of paramount importance.  

It is indisputable that the public language in which migration is discussed represents an important indicator of integration. Governments must take special care when discussing migration in the context of security and border management.  The language and policy on migration then tend to focus on control and restriction may, in fact, fuel fear. When migration is discussed in terms that promote the rights of migrants, acknowledge their contributions, allow a rational debate on the demand for migrant labor in the economy and society, and shun inflammatory, racist and xenophobic rhetoric, there is a much greater chance that the integration of migrants will be successful and beneficial to them as well as to society at large.  This is why it is so important that governments, political forces, and the media portray migration in a respectful and balanced manner.

Conversely, distorted representations of migration feed feelings of grievance and can foster xenophobia and intolerance against migrant communities in host societies.

One thing is clear: empowerment of migrants depends on supportive and pro-active policy measures. To this effect, international human rights standards provide benchmarks, a normative framework, and a set of guidelines for policy-makers seeking to align their measures with international law.  Ultimately, no country can escape the need, and indeed, the obligation, to ensure that national migration policies recognize the profoundly human nature of migration and are respectful of the human rights of all migrants. 

Human rights standards require, for example, that migrants be fully informed about their rights, and their responsibilities, throughout the cycle of migration – from country of origin, to countries of transit and destination, and in some cases to eventual return.  They stipulate that migrants have the right to just and favourable conditions of work, to equal protection under the law, protection from arbitrary arrest and detention, as well as the right to adequate health and housing, and to education.

The enjoyment of these rights has made migration a positive and empowering experience for millions, but many others continue to be discriminated against and remain vulnerable.

In particular, irregular migrants often fall prey to human smugglers and to exploitative working conditions.  This is one of today’s most critical, and indeed most complex, human rights challenges.I have consistently called for the protection of the rights of vulnerable migrants.  Theirs is a life of precarious conditions and fear.  They are those most exposed to violations of their human rights, to discrimination, marginalisation and exclusion.

I am concerned that in South Africa, as elsewhere, migrants displaced by violence are reportedly forced into unsafe living conditions in abandoned buildings, churches, and open fields where they are vulnerable to disease, mass arrest, and eviction.

Irregular migration is likely to remain a feature of many societies as long as Governments do not put in place sufficient avenues for legal and regular migration in order to respond to the demand for migrant workers in their economies.

The issue of human smuggling, often closely linked to irregular migration, has dire human rights implications. The counter-smuggling policies of Governments must recognize the needs and vulnerabilities of smuggled migrants, and should be based explicitly on human rights norms.

South Africa has taken some steps in the right direction to address aspects of its migration problems.  The creation of a High Level Inter- Ministerial Committee on xenophobic violence against non-nationals is a welcome development.  Moreover, the South African Police Services are working with the United Nations to understand and tackle the root causes of anti-migration sentiment and to establish appropriate mechanisms to combat violence.  The United Nations, through my office, is also engaged with the South African Human Rights Commission in a year-long project focused on addressing discrimination and xenophobia and on preventing attacks against migrants.

Much more needs to be done.  Conditions of temporary detention of non-nationals must be improved.  Crucially, detention should be a last resort: adequate alternatives should first be explored.  A review of the Immigration Act of 2002 could also be carried out together with the enactment of laws that specifically target xenophobia and hate crimes, including hate speech, against non-nationals.

In this land we know that history does not look kindly upon discrimination, exclusion and inequity.  Migrants to today’s South Africa are no more tradable commodities or lesser human beings than the non-white were under apartheid and its institutionalised racism. They are our brothers and sisters.    We must demand for them the same respect, dignity and rights that we struggled for each and every South African to enjoy. Let us demonstrate some Ubuntu.