Xenophobic attacks the past week have left 22 dead and scores more injured. For foreigners the nightmare began last week when they became the targets of angry mobs. Shacks have been burnt, shops looted and property damaged.
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Over the weekend the violence intensified and has spread to other areas leaving many people destitute and displaced.
The violence seems to stem from South African perceptions that illegal immigrants add to crime and the high unemployment rate.
Broken promises and misunderstandings
Dr Irma Labuschagne, a forensic criminologist believes that the anger and frustration afflicting our society today is a result of many problems, both current and from the past.
"Before, and ever since independence, numerous promises were made and millions of people truly believed that their lives would change dramatically and quickly. They believed they would have proper accommodation, free education, good and free medical care, employment – all of which they had never had access to before. But the message was sold that all this would actually change immediately; it was never said that with every human right comes a responsibility, or that it would take a long, long time for all the good things to happen.
"Years into the new disposition, nothing has really changed for many millions. But they still see the affluence surrounding them, across all races, and they are getting angrier and angrier and more frustrated by the day. This anger and frustration does not bode well for the country and could spill over in a revolution if left unchecked," Labuschagne warned.
Why do refugees flee?
But for many of the South African victims of these xenophobic attacks, this is the second time they have to flee. First from their country of origin, and now to churches and police stations dotted around Gauteng.
What would make you pack up a few belongings and flee from home? Unthinkable? It’s a reality for thousands of people.
And because of their circumstances, refugees are much more vulnerable to both viral and bacterial diseases and mental disorders than other people are.
The reasons people are driven from their homes include wars, persecution, famine, drought, floods and other natural disasters, and environmental degradation.
In areas torn apart by civil war, refugees leave their home country to seek safety outside its borders. The following also plays a significant role: fear of being persecuted due to religious beliefs, race, nationality, political opinions or belonging to a certain social group.
Many refugees do not leave their home countries, though. They are called ‘internally displaced persons’. Internally displaced people (IDP) have been forced to leave their homes for the same reasons as refugees, but do not cross international borders. This group is increasing in size and is starting to make up a bigger and bigger percentage of refugees overall.
Numbers of environmental refugees are also growing. The International Red Cross estimates that there will be 50 million environmental refugees by 2010.
“The result of combined factors such as climate change, storms, water pollution and poor land use is a new type of refugee: one fleeing an area, because it is no longer sustainable in terms of providing food, water and shelter. Sometimes refugees fleeing political turmoil and violence may also be fleeing areas of environmental degradation”, says Olivia Rose-Innes, Health24’s EnviroHealth Expert.
Where do they flee?
Refugees usually flee to what they perceive to be the nearest, safest destination. En route they often endure many hardships, which frequently do not come to an end when they reach their destination. Many refugees travel for months on foot, by bus, by truck or by whatever means are available to them.
Most refugees are from developing countries. In general they do not leave their region of origin and as a result, neighbouring countries that are usually least able to deal with them frequently become their hosts.
While developed countries such as the United States and Britain contribute most of the funding to assist refugees, the irony is that developing countries are hosts to the majority of the world’s refugees.
Major host countries to refugees are Iran and Pakistan, which host Afghani refugees; and Tanzania, which hosts refugees from Burundi and Rwanda.
Inside the refugee camp
Refugee camps are usually set up by governments to provide temporary residence for refugees. Several sectors have been calling for the setting up of such camps in South Africa in the wake of the xenophobic violence that has swept the Gauteng Area. Refugees receive emergency food rations and medical care in such camps. They can mostly stay in such a camp until it is safe to go back home.
However, in some cases people end up staying in the camps for years. Their host countries might decide that it will never be safe for them to return home and then settle them in other countries far away from the borders they originally crossed.
Camps are often overcrowded and frequently unable to provide for the basic needs of the refugees. Clean water, food and proper shelter are scarce. Poor hygiene and inadequate sanitation make this an ideal environment for the spread of diseases and infections.
Life as a refugee
The occurrence of mental health problems in refugees is often neglected. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that 50% of refugees suffer from chronic mental disorders.
Traumatic experiences such as torture, sexual violence and witnessing killings and detention could lead to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Crowded living conditions, and feelings of insecurity and uncertainty contribute to the development of depression.
The most common mental and psychological disorders are mood disorders, acute and post-traumatic stress disorder and adjustment disorder with anxiety, continuous feelings of nervousness, worry or fear after a stressful event. There is also an increase in behavioural problems, such as aggression and substance abuse.
Socially refugees are often isolated. They have feelings of displacement, and loss of dignity, family, position, cultural origin, language, social status and employment. The children are often devastated by the lack of parents’ status.
Xenophobia within host countries also makes it hard for refugees to adapt and to integrate themselves into communities.
(Leandra Engelbrect and Amy Henderson, Health24, May 2008)
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