Living with xenophobia : understanding the lived experiences of Burundian and Rwandese refugees in Durban (South Africa).
Year: 2013
Type: dissertation
Abstract: The main purpose of the study described in this report was to better understand the lived \nexperiences of refugees from Burundi and Rwanda living in the inner city of Durban and \nfacing xenophobia. This study was motivated by available research evidence that \nxenophobia is a widespread phenomenon, together with the researcher’s own experience \nof living as a refugee in South Africa. The investigation was guided by ‘structural social \nwork theory’ and used a qualitative descriptive approach. The sample of the study, \npurposively selected using snowball sampling technique, consisted of ten adult refugees \nfrom Burundi and Rwanda who had been granted refugee status in South Africa. As a \ndata collection tool, semi-structured interviews were conducted with the participants. To \nensure trustworthiness, criteria of credibility, dependability, confirmability and \ntransferability were taken in account. \nThe study revealed that all the participants have fled their respective countries due to \nethnic conflicts and on-going civil wars. Traumatised by the experience that had led to \ntheir flight, all ten participants were found to have been re-traumatised further along the \nflight, and symptoms of post-traumatic stress syndrome were common. It was possible to \ndemonstrate that this background experience undermined participants’ ability to cope \nwith xenophobia. Xenophobia was found to feature in the form of both interpersonal and \nstructural violence, the latter consisting of both social and economic marginalisation and \nexclusion. According to the research participants, the prevailing xenophobia in South \nAfrica can be attributed to a number of interconnected factors including: the impact of \nSouth Africa’s apartheid history on attitudes of South Africans towards black foreigners, \ncoupled with a general lack of knowledge about who are refugees; high levels of violence \ncoupled with an apparent social acceptability of crime; as well as the negative statements \nof the media about foreigners in general and refugees in particular. Against this \nbackground, participants indicated a range of coping strategies, including the following: \nescape from identity; psychological and social withdrawal; living in overcrowded inner \ncity areas to cut costs of living and minimise risks of exposure to xenophobic violence; \nembracing self and informal employment. \nBased on the study findings, this research report concludes with the proposition of a \nnumber of recommendations towards curbing xenophobia in South Africa and enabling \nrefugees to overcome past traumatic experiences, integrate and become active \ncontributors to South Africa’s economy, in line with the qualifications that they may have \nattained prior to flight. To this end, contributions are required of everyone concerned \nwith the refugees’ integration including the South African government, the media, the \nsocial work profession, the refugees themselves, as well as the communities amongst \nwhich they live. Much more research needs to be done to increase social workers’ \nunderstanding of the needs of refugees and of xenophobia, and to guide appropriate \nprofessional responses.
Author: Consolee. Mujawamariya
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2217117253