Who is a refugee in Africa? A discussion over coffee.

44 Stanley Avenue - coffee haven

My first South African latte

After my first morning out in central Jo'burg I spent the afternoon closer to home (my hotel).  44 Stanley Avenue is a  collection of old industrial buildings that have been converted into a mega-posh precinct of cafes, restaurants, shops and studies.  It's a little bit like Beijing's 798 art district, but smaller, posher and with less art and more very, very expensive shops.  The website proclaims: 'The synergy of creative souls, aloes, 1930s architecture and deliciously unique products... make for an ambience that is as refreshing as it is quintessentially Johannesburg.'  Well refreshing it certainly was - it was an oasis of calm compared to the fairly hectic central business district.  But it felt worlds away from from anything else I had experienced of Johannesburg so far.

Wavering between unease at the conspicuously gentile vibe and elation at finding so many cafes in one place, I found a seat in Bean There - a fair trade coffee roastery tucked away in the corner of the precinct - and ordered a latte.  I settled in with some readings about the African Union and my Graham Greene novel, thinking: aha, now this is what doing a PhD is all about - hanging it in cafes, drinking coffee and reading...

My latte arrived in a bowl (hooray!) and the barista asked me about the article I was reading.  When I explained to him that I was doing a PhD in African refugee law, he introduced himself as a refugee from Zimbabwe, and took out the refugee ID card he had been issued a few years ago to show me.  He explained to me that he didn't really use it any more - last year the government held a special amnesty for Zimbabweans and, being a teacher in Zimbabwe, my barista had received a two-year work permit allowing him to live and work in the country until the end of 2013.  He also explained to me that in fact he is not really a refugee at all, that he only applied for refugee status because there is no other way to stay in South Africa.

This is a common criticism of the asylum system in South Africa.  The country as a whole, and Johannesburg in particular, is perceived as the land of opportunity - offering better work and financial prospects than just about anywhere else on the continent.  But the lack of immigration options for people coming here from other African countries means that that people just seeking a better life for themselves - 'economic migrants' - are forced into the asylum queue, pushing out those who are genuinely in need of protection.  This distinction between refugees on the one hand, and economic migrants on the other, is of course not particular to South Africa, but it is exceptionally strong here.  My barista described himself as an 'economic refugee'.

All of this is particularly interesting to me, as the focus of my PhD research is on the very meaning of the term 'refugee' in Africa, or more particularly, in African law.  Unlike the rest of the world, where the 1951 Refugee Convention defines a refugee as a person at risk of persecution on account of their race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, Africa has its own regional Refugee Convention, and its own definition of a refugee.  The 1969 African Refugee Convention defines a refugee as a person who is compelled to leave their home owing to external aggression, occupation, foreign domination or events seriously disturbing public order.

The African refugee definition is said to be much broader than the international 1951 definition.  In particular, it is thought to provide refugee status and protection to persons fleeing more generalised risks of harm, such as civil war or widespread human rights abuses.  Such persons are routinely denied refugee protection under the 1951 definition, because the risk of harm they face is a general one, applying for example to anyone unlucky enough to be caught up in a war zone, and not the result of their being individually targeted.  Refugee advocates (at least outside of Africa) routinely cite the African refugee definition as more generous, more reflective of the reasons that people are forced to flee their homes and an example that ought to be followed elsewhere. But despite the common belief in the expansive nature of the African refugee definition, it is very difficult to pin down with any precision just how far its meaning extends.

This is the purpose of my PhD - to try and articulate, with more clarity and rigour than has been done to date, the legal meaning of the term 'refugee' in Africa.  Of course, being only one year in I am yet to draw any firm conclusions on the matter.  But if there is one country that would seem to me to have faced events seriously disturbing public order in recent years, it is Zimbabwe - and presumably someone in South African officialdom thought so too when my barista was granted refugee status.

There are many reasons why a person might want to avoid describing themselves as a refugee.  Labels are powerful, and I have met many refugees who evade the term ascribed to them by law and by society.  The very category that protects people from being returned to countries where they face harm, frequently excludes them from the community in which they must try to make a new home.  Nevertheless, it surprised me to hear a Zimbabwean man declare with such certainty that, like most Zimbabweans in South Africa, he is not a refugee at all.

The process of seeking asylum in South Africa can take years, during which people are frequently denied the right to work or study, and even those who are accepted by the government as refugees are issued with initial two year permits, after which they can apply for an extension of another two years.  Asylum seekers are commonly viewed as illegal immigrants and face harassment and even arrest if they fail to produce the 'correct' documentation.  My barista is one of the lucky ones - he has his ID card and the right to earn a living.  I ask him what he will do when his work permit expires in two years - he says: Who knows? I will wait and see what the government decides.