UN: Socio-economic problems behind xenophobia

THEMBELA KHAMANGO | JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - Sep 29 2010 18:00

Socio-economic problems are the major cause of xenophobia in South Africa,

the United Nations refugee agency said in Johannesburg on Wednesday.

"No society is xenophobic by nature, these attacks were caused by lack of

development," UN High Commissioner for Refugees deputy regional

representative Sergio Calle Norena told the Congress of South Africa Trade

Unions' summit on xenophobia.

He said it was not impossible to address such attacks, during which 62

people were killed in May 2008, saying South Africans needed better access

to employment. Employers should further stop paying foreigners less than

locals.

Norena said the creation of permanent anti-xenophobia structures for

intervention and prevention of attacks would help, as would monitoring

emerging threats, informing the police in time and effective response from

authorities.

The 2008 attacks caused much pain and left many foreigners displaced because

the government and all the relevant structures had been caught off guard.

"In the 2010 attacks, there was more pro-active approach because the

emerging threats were identified in time. The country was successful in its

response and less pain was caused."

University of Witwatersrand's Forced Migration Studies Programme researcher

Tara Polzer said violence against foreigners and internal migrants had been

an ongoing feature of post-apartheid South Africa.

"While the most intense period of attacks took place in May 2008, similar

patterns of violence began long before and have yet to stop.

"Violence against foreign nationals typically occurs in locals with high

(but not highest) levels of economic deprivation, high percentage of male

residents, high level of informal housing, and high levels of language

diversity (including many South African and foreign languages)."

The key trigger of violence was local competition for political (formal or

informal) and economic power, she said.

"Violence against foreign nationals and ethnic 'minorities' is a symptom of

broader challenges of legitimate and accountable local governance,

especially in informal settlements."

Polzer said the violence was likely to continue without concerted efforts to

address impunity and "scapegoating".

The government had made small steps in these directions, but much remained

to be done.

Cosatu's international secretary Bongani Masuku said they were looking at

ways of preventing xenophobic attacks in future. Xenophobia in the workplace

would also be discussed at the summit, its impact on the labour market and

workers' rights.

Cosatu was looking at developing a programme against xenophobia in the four

provinces worst hit in the countrywide attacks in 2008 -- Gauteng, Western

Cape, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.

"The programme will include locals. We will look at the impact and how to

strengthen workers' responses to xenophobia and build community structures

against xenophobia."--Sapa

http://www.mg.co.za/article/2010-09-29-un-socioeconomic-problems-behind-xeno

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