Dr Faisal M.Garba is a lecturer in the Department of Sociology at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, whose research and teaching interests radiate around African migration, social change, working class history and organization, African historical sociology and social theory. During the virtual panel discussion held by the Global Research Forum on Diaspora Transnationalism [GRFDT]on the topic, ‘Migration Management during COVID-19: Best Practices from Latin America, Africa and Asia’ conducted on 28 July 2020, Dr. Garba discussed how South Africa has been managing migration during COVID-19 and the importance of solidarity at community level to overcome the crisis.
Impact of COVID-19 on migration mobility
Dr. Garba began by assessing the current impact of COVID-19 on migration mobility in Africa. He stated that though the restrictions have been eased differentially, the borders of most African countries remain closed.
“States are increasingly adopting a very nationalistic posture in dealing with COVID-19; relief is distributed as if the pandemic only affects citizens”,Dr. Garba pointed out. Ghana, for instance, has threatened to deport non-citizens who tested positive for COVID-19.However, that threat has not yet been followed through yet.
“COVID has exacerbated an important issue of who belongs to the society and to whom does the society belong. The lines of demarcations have become sharper especially with the state actions.”: Dr. Faisal M. Garba
Drawing a parallel to Latin America, Dr. Garba pointed out that the bulk of migration in Africa happens within the continent. Migration in Africa has historically underpinned livelihood structures but “overtime the states have adopted a very restrictive understanding of migration and what it means for people to move.” Protocols have been put in place for movement even within the subregions and Dr. Garba highlighted the importance of grassroot forms of solidarity as best practices of migration in this context.
Discriminatory Practices during Pandemic
South Africa’s approach towards migrants during the pandemic is worth scrutinizing as a major hub of migration, hosting migrants from all over Africa. Dr. Garba informed that the state has adopted a very restrictive outlook towards migration. At the beginning of May, the state rolled out a very generous package to cushion people who have lost their means of livelihood. “The relief package was expressly formulated to cater for citizens. So, refugees, asylum seekers and stateless people were completely excluded”, stated Dr. Garba. The civil society organizations took the state to court over this exclusionary relief package and eventually the state was forced to extend relief package to cover refugees as well under the court ruling.
During the pandemic, refugees and asylum seekers had to go through a lot of hardships in terms of access to basic necessities, particularly health care. For instance, stringent rules like the requirement of national identification numbers for getting tested for COVID-19 in South Africa effectively shut out people who are not citizens from getting tested for virus.
Role of Solidarity at Grassroot levels
To counter the exclusionary policies of the government, there has been community-based initiatives sprouting within informal setups, where people come together and try to extend support to each other. This not only aids migrant workers, but also counter evils like xenophobic attacks. This bottom-up approach has called for more inclusive policy towards migration, which completely contradicts exclusionary outlook adopted by states. For instance, working group composed of refugees in Kenya has produced almost 200,000 facemasks, thus taking an active part in combating the pandemic. UNHCR and other non-governmental organizations in partnership with the Ministry of Educations have been trying to facilitate online learning for refugees in Africa during the lockdown.
“If one is thinking about tackling a disease of this nature, then one has to be as inclusive as possible”: Dr. Faisal M. Garba
Dr Garba concluded his presentation by stating that “across the continent there is very little discussion about where the place of the migrant is in this moment, how do refugees fare and what is the status of the stateless people in this moment?” There is a need for states to start considering non-citizens in their policy frameworks, especially now as pandemic is wreaking havoc.
Inomusa Ndlovu, a Zimbabwean, creative writer, feminist and a student of M.A in Political Science at the University of Lucknow, India. She can be reached on twitter @InomusaCN.