Latest from Callixte Kavuro, Blue Waters
REINTEGRATION IS NOT AN OPTION
On Thursday, 18 September 2008, we received the delegates from Provincial Government, City of Cape Town, UNHCR, UNICEF headed by CTRC Director, Ms Christine Henda. In a meeting together with the Bluewaters Leaders, after reluctantly holding a meeting with Leaders before they should embark to the process of registering IDP, they said that their main purpose was to register IDP’s and thereafter reintegrate them. This meeting was held out of their will. It was held because the Leaders insisted that they could not pitch up in camp and start attending IDP’s when the Leaders do not know what exactly going on. This was seen by Leaders as to take advantage of desperate refugees who have been in dilemma of reintegration, repatriation or resettlement.
There were many questions that were asked. These questions were not given satisfactory answers. Many questions were addressed to the UNHCR Field Assistant, Ms Diana hence the UNHCR has indicated several times that it is monitoring the development of the government in fighting against xenophobia. The following are some of the questions that were asked:
- Are they happy with what the government is doing so that now it is safe for the IDP’s to go back?
- Does it (UNHCR) see that the 2 months accommodation money is enough for someone who his/ her belongings were being taken away or her business looted?
- Why does the government want to reintegrate undocumented people, while the cards were given are not being recognized by any institution?
- How the UNHCR think that IDP’s will resume his/her life back into community with the threats that going on of closing down businesses, are we going to be employed by the government this time around if we cannot run businesses?
- How should we survive since we do not have a piece of land where we can cultivate even a cabbage or spinach!
- Why the UNHCR that supposed to protect us is sending us in hell as the same as one we ran from back home?
She (UNHCR) said that she was following orders from above. She did not disclose who has given her orders. Ms Christine Henda said that she was running out of funds. If we do not cooperate with them, we will be stuck in the camp and nobody who will be coming to help us because the camp will be closing very soon. But first of all, who did she spend money to? The delegates from Provincial government and City of Cape Town had nothing to say, they excluded themselves in this process.
We have questioned several times the role of CTRC (Cape Town Refugee Centre) in the path to reintegration and which criteria an IDP must met to qualify to be reintegrated. She (Ms. Christine) refused to answer a letter that was sent to her by TAC on behalf of IDP’s asking her role in reintegration, despite of answering the letter, she did not attend the meeting with civil societies together with JRLC thereafter. Likewise, the UNHCR South Africa refused to answer the letter that was sent to them asking clarification about their role and the role of CTRC.
On this day, we were told that they wanted to know how many people who want to cooperate with them so that they can help them with reintegration. They said that they are willing to pay a rent fee of not more than R750 per month per a single and between R1200 - R1500 per family with a condition that a person may go to look for accommodation by himself. And after finding a vacant accommodation you were looking for, you have to come back and see Ms. Christine at her office in Wynberg together with the landlord’s account number in your hand! She will be paying the accommodation through landlords’ account since she will not be giving any body cash. There won’t be any other assistance to help someone to start off a living; everybody must start a new life as it was the case when first arrived in SA!
For those who may be willing to reintegrate in another communities as you know that nobody who is willing to go back in the community that he/she is once chased from. This proposal may not work out easily as they anticipated because it is not easy to find an accommodation here in the Western Cape normally. Eventually, that is why people ended up staying in black suburbs. There is other people who went to stay in these areas according to what their pockets may afford, the question is if someone was able to pay R200 a month, and now is taken back into community where he/she has to rent a room of R 1500 per month, and Reintegration Facilitators Team pay only for 2 months, and then after 2 months, this person is left to sustain him/herself, that is to pay a rent and to take care of his/her family. Do you think really this person will manage to live in this community that he or she would be settled? Or they want to throw us on to streets again!
Unfortunately, we were attacked because we were blamed for social problems that we have no control over such as drugs, theft, robbery, unemployment and poor service delivery, etc. How is South Africans going to feel if we go around asking their account numbers? Are not going to have this feeling that we are going to steal their money from their accounts? Who may give account to someone he/she does not know (I mean who is not yet his lessee)? Merely because you will be coming to lease his/her house at indeterminable day and month! It sounds to us as more prejudice if not apathy.
However, reintegration into communities that expelled us is not an option and UNHCR and government ought not to take advantage of hopeless IDP by enticing them with ridiculous monetary or force us to go where life may be taken away any time any minute because “a life taken away may never be returned”
At this stage where South Africa is facing political crisis, I fear that refugees may be left to die with nobody noticing what is going on the ground, because now, Xenophobia is not what matters to the nation! Though, we are disappointed by the UNHCR supporting inconsiderate reintegration.
Kavuro Callixte
Senior Member of Bluewaters Committee and JRLC.