There's lots to say about what's going on in Zimbabwe, but I didn't know where to start, and the situation seems to be deteriorating at such a rate that it was hard to keep up.
Anyway, here's a short article that quickly illustrates the impact of the situation on SA, but provides little in the way of context. It's also kind of problematic in that it subtly blames the refugees for potentially creating instability in SA and not, say, the power-crazed dictator who's rapidly destroying what was once one of Africa's largest economies.
If you're interested in the "situation," I just found this, which provides a daily compendium of Zimbabwe news stories from sources around the world. The first story in yesterday's batch - and other stories like it - make it especially frustrating to read about the gentle diplomacy practiced by Mbeki and other regional leaders towards Mugabe.
...
Earlier in the week, I interviewed a few people about migrants, refugees and xenophobia as part of the research I'm doing for work. One was the co-director of an organization called Gender Justice and the other was the director of an organization called Engender Health. We happened to touch on the Zimbabwean "situation" and what it means for South Africa. They both called on the South African and Johannesburg governments to do something to tackle xenophobia, but they had very different ideas of what should be done to deal with all the people. The Engender Health guy said that the problem has become so dire that the country should set up refugee camps near the borders to take care of all the undocumented migrants; the Gender Justice guy said that we have to work harder to integrate Zimbabweans into South African society and ensure that they are aware of the rights and resources available to them.
I understand there are significant economic and social strains put on the country by the daily stream of refugees, but I have to agree with Mr. Gender Justice: I don't see how creating crowded refugee camps would do anything but create more problems for South Africa and for relations between everyday Zimbabweans and South Africans.
I'll do some more posting on this a bit later. (I know, I say this a lot)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
tsk, tsk. it's always easy to blame the power-crazed dictator, isn't it? personally, i'm greatly reassured at the prospect that mugabe's goons are reviewing all postal, telephone and internet communication in the country. and, after all, zimbabwean security forces only confiscated food aid on a "sporadic" basis. so really, i don't know what people are complaining about.
after all, no one in bulawayo drank water, anyway.
let me know if the sarcasm isn't getting across. in the meantime, i think we should burn $200,000 bills in protest.
Post a Comment