Refugees have rights too!

The picture on today’s Cape Times is stuck in my mind. This terrified injured little girl haunts me, even after I have put the paper away. She might not be able to tell us what she saw, as she is probably too young to do so, but her eyes say more then all the news reports could possibly say about the nature of xenophobic violence that erupted in townships across Gauteng.

I fully understand that many South Africans are desperate. Millions are desperate for work, desperate for a roof above their heads, for bread on the table, for decent living conditions, and a better future for themselves and their children. Poverty, inequality, and unemployment in this country are still massive problems, and understandably so many South Africans are intensely frustrated about the state of their lives.

But is that a solid reason to start a hate campaign against foreigners, to kill them, burn them, maim them or kick them out of their homes and vandalise their belongings? Well, I would say that it isn’t. But then again — I am earning a decent living, I reside in a nice part of town, and I have plenty of options to live a decent life in the broadest sense of the word. I do not have to deal with taxi wars, a leaking shack roof, communal toilets and water taps, crime, lack of facilities, and so on.

Some of you would therefore say that I am in no position at all to judge and slam the perpetrators of the violence. And indeed, despite having visited various townships frequently, I can’t possibly imagine how people living in the townships deal with the struggles they face on a daily basis and how these challenges truly affect them. So in that respect you guys are right. I have no right to judge them or to formulate an opinion.

But hey, I am first and foremost a human being. Seeing the pictures that circulated across the world over the past weeks of people being beaten to pulp, set alight, and killed in cold blood just drenches me in pure sadness. Being a believer in this country’s potential, and realizing that this not a South African phenomenon (many, many countries, including in Europe, have been subjected to this kind of violence in the far and recent past), I find this unacceptable. No matter how despicable your personal situation is, there is no way that you are entitled to hurt, kill, burn and traumatise people. Migrants and refugees have rights too, which are protected by the South African constitution.

Of course, as anywhere in the world, some migrants come here with the wrong intentions, yet most of them just cross our borders because they want to live a decent life. These people do not come here with the intention to deal drugs, hijack, burgle homes, murder. They do not intend to steal jobs either or to give others a hard time. However, they are aware of the fact that their prospects increase when they offer ‘themselves’ at a lower hourly rate then South Africans would do. They know it is the only way to compete with all the millions of unemployed souls that live within our borders. It is all about survival. I, being a freelancer, do the same. I offer a lower rate for work, simply because I eventually will benefit from it as it will lead to more work. There are simply too many freelancers out there. And guess what? It seems to work.

I do not know what the answer is to the current situation. I just hope that peace returns soon; for all people who have been hurt and affected by the violence. Including that little girl on the front page of the newspaper.