The
political strife from the neighboring states such as Angola,
Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Burundi, Nigeria, Cameroon, the
Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Ethiopia, and Eritrea has
caused many people to flee the threat of genocide with the hope
of finding safety and asylum in South Africa. About 85 percent
of these refugees are Muslim from the Great Lakes region and
efforts are being made to incorporate them into the social
fabric of the South African scenario for fear that they may be
lost to Christianity.
But
Saleem Banda, a Zambian residing in South Africa who works for
the World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY) and a lobbying group
called Al-Ansaar Refugee Services (ARS), said, " The degree
of xenophobia is so acute, that it makes it difficult to unite
the large and diverse contingency of Muslim refugees, thus
posing the challenge of these Muslim refugees losing their
identity; other Muslims and the broader community in which
xenophobia is quite high reject them."
"The
local people must recognize that the war torn states have given
South African political persons asylum when they had fled from
persecution from the authorities. The government of Zambia even
arranged for these asylum seekers to be transported from the
border to refugee camps and places of safety from where they
could further their political ideals for the African National
Congress. These refugees are struggling to fit in — it is not
easy to integrate.," continues Banda.
"Another
challenge that we are confronted with is that these refugees do
not have the requisite documents which will grant legitimate
status to the refugees. The mechanization at the Department of
Home Affairs is ill-equipped in terms of both staffing and
skills to handle the volumes that come to apply for their
papers. They are only able to attend to 20 refugees daily. Until
and unless we do something, we are going to lose these
people."
A
case in point is that of 16-year-old Yusuf Bikirimani who
escaped from the fighting in his town of Bujumburi in Burundi.
After living on the streets, he was rescued by ARS and now lives
in a house of safety in Valley View Road in Roseglen, a suburb
of Durban. He ought to have been in school, but because he did
not have his papers, he could not attend. In order for him to
stay in an Islamic environment during the month of Ramadan,
Banda placed him in Darul Uloom Numaniyah in Chatsworth so that
Yusuf could attend Taraweeh prayers.
During
the December holidays, when the house of safety was vacated,
Banda again took him in. The social worker, together with the
Department of Social Development, agreed that Banda and his wife
Khadija would foster him for a period of six months pending the
outcome of his application for refugee asylum. Yusuf is
presently employed as a handyman and is earning a salary.
Yusuf
lost his parents in the war in Burundi and left his sister with
a neighbor in a refugee camp somewhere in East Africa. He hopes
to find her someday and return to South Africa with her. Banda
says that the biggest challenge he faces is getting Yusuf's
papers and so he can attend school. There are many others like
Yusuf that are fortunate, but then there are also others that
are not so fortunate.
Al-Ansaar
lobbyists work on the principle of muhajireen In keeping with
the hospitality and etiquettes of the Al-Ansaar (The Helpers) in
Madina, who gave refuge to the muhajireen (The Immigrants) from
Makkah when they faced persecution. Al-ansaar welcomed the
refugees, restored their confidence and helped them to settle,
and feel that in order to restore refugees' identity, South
Africans must unify to help restore refugees' lost Islamic
identity instead of displaying hostility and mistrust towards
them.
Christian
missionaries believe that South African Muslims' attitudes
towards refugees are apathetic, thus they have an opportunity to
exploit the situation through their demeanor and interaction
with the refugees. The refugees shelter in the Methodist church
hall in central Durban. The caring environment is conducive, and
as a result many Muslim refugees convert to Christianity.
Anything is better than spending nights on a pavement where one
is subjected to abuse.
"After
Jumuah salaah, I meet some of the brothers, and when I enquired
of their whereabouts they confirmed that the Methodists give
them food and shelter. They are treated like human beings and
their dignity is being restored," adds Banda who feels that
South African Muslims must get organized and identify what they
want to do with the refugees. South African Muslims need to play
an active role in trying to address the plight of the Muslim
refugees. Most of them don’t care not only about refugee
Muslims but also the black Muslim community.
"Furthermore,
in death, we are also faced with hardship because we have to
raise the funds to have our Muslim brother buried as a
Muslim."
"We
were faced with a problem when one of my university friends,
Hafiz Noor, passed away in his sleep. The money had to be
arranged for his funeral and this was difficult because Muslim
burial services believe that blacks become Muslims when they die
to have free burial. This problem is not only faced by the
refugee community but also the black communities."
Rare
Skills
Banda
confirmed that these refugees have rare skills that are lacking
in South Africa. He believes that refugees' skills must be used
to empower the local workforce and to mobilize to market their
skills.
What
can South African Muslims do to reposition themselves and regain
their dignity? Presently, there are 11 service providers of
which only Al-Ansaar refugee services is an Islamic one - the
rest are heavily funded by different churches that offer
advocacy programs in Durban and the outlaying areas. Small
Business Initiatives recently launched a project called HOPE
(Help Our Project Expand) whereby refugees were given a
barbering kit and then set themselves up in the street to cut
people's hair.
Far
from wanting to become burdensome and a nuisance to society,
many refugees engage in informal trading enterprises so they can
put food on the table. They are often harassed by hoodlums and
robbed.
Many
young girls who want to migrate south are lured by wieldy pimps
under the pretext and promise that they will find employment.
When they come to the shores of South Africa, they are forced
into prostitution to pay for their passage. They often resort to
drugs to survive and keep sane. The lobbyists have rescued many
young girls, but the influx has been far too great to keep the
flow of young refugee girls under control.
Muhammad,
a student from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, was encouraged,
by the recent awareness programs and the provision of social and
material assistance, to assist refugees. He approached WAMY,
which has a number of programs lined up, such as educational
classes, a youth camp, youth leadership adventures, education
support programs, and a school fee support program. Muhammad
Muzaliwa from DRC holders a Masters in Social Science, Political
Science and Public Policy Program from the University of
Kwazulu-Natal. He approached WAMY to assist the refugee youth to
participate in various programs such the as tuition classes,
youth camp, youth leadership adventures, education support
programs, and school fee support program. He shared with us his
research at Masters level 1 which was on DRC Refugees : Survival
Strategies and Social Networks in a South African city. We are
looking for a sponsor towards his salary to employ him at
Al-Ansaar as a Refugee Development co-odinator. He has a lot of
ideas in Economic Empowerment Education and Counseling. WAMY
held a Youth Empowerment program in Umlazi township from 3rd
April to 5th April 2006 and 10 refugees youths participated.
Muhammad played a very active role in mobilizing and also
identifying the refugee youths
