Last Updated on April 18, 2021 by themigrationnews
In ‘OF MYTHS AND MIGRATION: Illegal Immigration into South Africa’, Hussein Solomon explores the ‘global migration crisis’ focusing on the threats posed by international migration on host countries. The study specifically focuses on rampant clandestine immigration in South Africa. Hussein frames the study within the broader Southern African regional security framework. The book provides policy-relevant insights on how South Africa and by extension other African countries, can possibly deal with irregular immigration and its adverse effects on the host population. South Africa is a major destination for regular and irregular migrants within the Southern African region because of its relatively stronger economy compared to its neighbors and the rest of the African continent. Irregular immigrants from Zimbabwe, for instance, have increasingly ‘trekked’ to South Africa in search of employment in the wake of an incessant economic decline and political turmoil in their home country in the past twenty years.
Focusing on the underexplored subject of irregular immigrants in South Africa – who he notes are usually not keen to be researched on – Hussein lays bare a grey area on the character, nature, and impact of irregular immigrants in South Africa. He lays a foundation for further research on the impact of irregular migrants both on the sending and receiving countries despite saying very little about the everyday experiences of the irregular immigrants themselves.
International migration is complex and has repercussions on both the sending and receiving countries that are not easily generalisable. The lack of generalisability is more pronounced regarding irregular migrants. Yet, irregular migrants are often framed under a monolithic worldview which castigates them as a threat to the security of the host population. ‘Putting a strain on government service delivery’, ‘stealing jobs from locals’ and ‘criminality’ are common descriptors associated with irregular immigrants in South Africa. Hussein’s study is no exception as it bemoans the burden that irregular migrants in South Africa put on the South African population and its government. However, the book is silent about the cheap migrant labour exploited by South African firms, especially commercial farms where most irregular migrants are employed.
Consequently, Hussein depicts irregular immigrants in South Africa as posing a threat to the security of the local population. Through the International Relations (IR) perspective, Hussein discusses security and security studies, themes upon which the book is mainly predicated. Contrary to a narrow conceptualisation of security that focuses on the military and defence, the author engages with human security from a perspective which has been hitherto less explored in studies of migration. Defining security in a broad sense as the “the absence of threat to human life, lifestyle and culture through the fulfilment of basic needs” (Omari, 1995), Hussein reveals the links between, for instance, economic decline and human insecurity. He observes that such a broad conceptualisation of security means regional organisations such as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) which started off as primarily geared towards militaristic defence, are now oriented towards development.
Although ‘development’ is an elusive concept that evades a simple definition, achieving it entails ensuring the wellbeing of a given population. As such, the incorporation of ‘development’ by African regional organizations as a goal towards attaining human security means respective governments must safeguard the wellbeing of their populations. This explains the reason why Hussein perceives irregular immigrants as a threat to human security because they arguably put pressure on resources that are meant for the wellbeing of the host population. Paradoxically, however, because they are regarded as a threat to human security, irregular immigrants are excluded from respective governments’ efforts towards meeting their local populations’ basic needs. As such the broad goal of promoting human security is left unachieved because irregular immigrants are left behind by the host government.
The pressure that is put on national service delivery and resources by irregular immigrants, Hussein argues, is a threat to the local population’s security. This argument augurs well with commonplace arguments that are used in support of xenophobic attacks against African and other immigrants in contemporary South Africa. However, at the same time, the book is silent on the fact that most of these irregular immigrants – those from Zimbabwe for instance – migrate because of livelihood and other insecurities in their home countries. As such, while irregular immigrants may pose a security threat to the host population, it is also important to recognize that they are running away from insecurities back in their home countries. As such, while Hussein makes a notable contribution with policy suggestions towards curbing irregular immigration in South Africa, such policy measures should consider cooperative efforts that improve conditions in the home country.
The author suggests two notable policies that may be adopted to curb the ‘crisis of migration’. First, control measures that include deportation are propounded but these come with costs on the part of the South African government as the author rightly notes because the government will have to pay for repatriating irregular migrants. Additionally, irregular immigrants from South Africa’s neighbors often return to South Africa immediately after being deported. Second, he argues convincingly that states should be left to retain their sovereignty but on the condition that they cater to the security and welfare of their citizens. This is an interesting proposition which, however, may not be feasible to implement. States such as Zimbabwe (authoritarian and in persistent economic decline), Mozambique, and the DRC (bedeviled by civil strife) would need sanctioning to check the abuse of power by the state and thus promote human security. And doing so means undermining their sovereignty.
Hussein’s use of the IR approach to the study of migration also raises critical issues regarding the challenges surrounding policy on international migrants. Bakewell (2008) for instance argues for the promotion of transnational citizenship for international migrants. Having read Hussein’s book, however, one wonders about the feasibility and repercussions of such a policy. If irregular immigrants are perceived as a security threat, then affording them transnational citizenship will be difficult.
The book critiques Pan-African imaginations of a ‘United States of Africa’ that African people may have. The author critiques the Southern African Development Community (SADC), which, through its 1995 and 1997 protocols sought to promote regional integration in Southern African. He argues convincingly that unrestrained migration within the Southern African region is impractical. He emphasizes that South Africa as the major economic power in the region would stand to lose because most migrants would be enticed to migrate to South Africa. Hussein argues that unrestrained migration in the Southern African region would lead to increased organized crime because irregular immigrants in South Africa have already been seen to contribute to organized crime. However, this argument ignores the possibility that irregular immigrants may engage in organized crime because they are deprived of proper economic opportunities and are not assimilated into mainstream South African society. It also reads as simplistic to hold a monolithic view that characterizes all irregular immigrants as criminals.
The author provides important insights into the growing xenophobic sentiments against irregular migrants because of the threats they pose on employment opportunities. Irregular immigrants’ willingness to work for long hours for low pay (in the process undermining the power of industrial action by local South Africans as they try to negotiate for better wages and working conditions) and the strains that immigrants put on service delivery. Five years after the publication of Hussein’s book, there were explicit manifestations of xenophobia in South Africa in the form of violent attacks in 2008 and more recently in 2015 and 2019, South Africa has witnessed attacks and looting of foreign-owned businesses especially shops. As such, Hussein’s book also contributes to understanding and thinking around the sources of xenophobia in South Africa.
Overall, the book reveals that globalization is a façade. Xenophobia in South Africa and the calls for controlled migration point to this. It substantiates Nyamnjoh’s (2006:1) position that globalization is characterized by “accelerated flows and paradoxically, accelerated closures through the intensified reality of borders”. Hussein’s descriptions of the contemporary international migration trends as leading to a ‘global migration crisis’ provide alarmist warnings against mass population movements. One can argue, in concurrence with Bakewell (2008) that the world is characterized by an anti-population movement and is obsessed with a ubiquitous concern to keep migrants and would-be migrants rooted in their home countries. By depicting irregular immigrants as a threat to local South Africans, Hussein’s book adds the general picture of globalization as mere rhetoric.
The book contributes to the literature on migration in profound and critical ways. For scholars and students interested in the relationship between migration and development and migration and livelihoods outsourcing, this is a good basic book from which to start thinking about thematic areas on such topics. It is also relevant for policymakers, students of IR, Migration Studies, and Development Practitioners.
Felix Tombindo is a doctoral student in African Studies and Anthropology at the University of Birmingham, UK. He has ongoing research interests in migration and development, particularly the potential role of diasporas towards reconstruction and development of their home countries. Here is his latest publication on migration and development: http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781003026327-15 .You can connect with him here: Felix Tombindo | LinkedIn