Mozambique Remains ‘Home’ For Fifteen Year Refugees in SA
HOEDSPRUIT (Kruger Times)- Many Mozambican refugees, living in a village near Agincourt close to the western boundaries of the Kruger National Park, who have been living in South Africa for 15 to 17 years still regard Mozambique as their home.
Dr Fred Golooba-Mutebi, an anthropologist from Uganda, spent a year living in Kamasuko. He was based at Wits Rural Facility for two years as a research associate of the Wits Agincourt Health and Population Unit.
He wanted to examine three notions of replacement with the Mozambican refugees who settled in the village:
* a universal desire to return to a place of home;
* that the idea of home is not necessarily rooted in a place– it can be anywhere; and
* does crossing a border take away people’s identity?
The village has 2,850 residents of which 926 are Mozambican. Golooba-Mutebi spent the first five months ‘hanging–out’, getting to know the dynamics of the village and its people through observation, learning the language and allowing the community to get to know him.
One of the first things he noticed was the two distinct residential areas in the village– a South African and Mozambican section. This even extended to each community having its own cemetery. He later learned that the induna and his advisors designated the Mozambican burial place to the refugees as if they would go back one day and take their ancestors with them.
Golooba-Mutebi wanted to find out from the Mozambican residents how their life in South Africa compared to that in Mozambique and if they ever wanted to return to Mozambique.
He found that although they had virtually no contact with Mozambique there seemed to be an intimate connection, but no ‘hunger’ to return.
Most were resigned to creating a ‘new home’ in South Africa but Mozambique remained their ‘real home’. When asked they would refer to their place of birth, Mozambique, as their ‘real home’.
Many said life in Mozambique was considerably better than in South Africa. One said, "There is no life in South Africa", but although he was miserable, he did not want to return to Mozambique.
According to Golooba-Mutebi, the consensus after several debates was that life before the war was far better in Mozambique. Those adamant never to return, had lost kin or property during the war when the rebels systematically targeted civilians. Despite the trauma, Mozambique remains ‘home’.
There are those who see the current state of affairs in Mozambique as uncertain and would not want to return. Others had logistical constraints.
"They arrived in South Africa on foot and have no means to return, even if they wanted to," said Golooba-Mutebi.
Some are pragmatic, "South Africa offers better educational facilities and the opportunity to learn English as opposed to Portuguese."
A minority of the Mozambican residents said that they would return if they could. According to Golooba-Mutebi, these refugees say life is not easy with unemployment, no land for farming and the negative experience in terms of discrimination they have to cope with here.
In Golooba-Mutebi’s experience the discrimination is obvious with little social interaction between the two nationalities. The Mozambican residents mix in larger groups with individuals moving freely from one group to another.
The South African social scene is characterised by much smaller gatherings and suspicions of witchcraft.
The two groups do not generally attend each other’s funerals and the South African residents employ the Mozambicans as maids and general workers.
Golooba-Mutebi said that although some refugees do not care either way, most are reconciled to the idea that they will live in South Africa permanently, thus they have created a ‘home-from-home’.
This has been aided by the locals’ refusal to accept them and therefore created a circle of solidarity amongst the Mozambicans.
Increasingly Mozambican residents also have greater access to social security benefits for their children. Although the locals do not mingle with the Mozambicans, they are not hostile to them and tolerate their presence in this area."
In conclusion, Golooba-Mutebi questions the idea that repatriation is a lasting solution to the refugee problem.
He said it seems the idea of home is tied to a place and that "crossing a border does not take away a person’s identity."
Golooba-Mutebi says that these are his initial findings, and more research could be done on this issue.
by Lynette Strauss, Kruger Times
Dr Fred Golooba-Mutebi, an anthropologist from Uganda, spent a year living in Kamasuko. He was based at Wits Rural Facility for two years as a research associate of the Wits Agincourt Health and Population Unit.
He wanted to examine three notions of replacement with the Mozambican refugees who settled in the village:
* a universal desire to return to a place of home;
* that the idea of home is not necessarily rooted in a place– it can be anywhere; and
* does crossing a border take away people’s identity?
The village has 2,850 residents of which 926 are Mozambican. Golooba-Mutebi spent the first five months ‘hanging–out’, getting to know the dynamics of the village and its people through observation, learning the language and allowing the community to get to know him.
One of the first things he noticed was the two distinct residential areas in the village– a South African and Mozambican section. This even extended to each community having its own cemetery. He later learned that the induna and his advisors designated the Mozambican burial place to the refugees as if they would go back one day and take their ancestors with them.
Golooba-Mutebi wanted to find out from the Mozambican residents how their life in South Africa compared to that in Mozambique and if they ever wanted to return to Mozambique.
He found that although they had virtually no contact with Mozambique there seemed to be an intimate connection, but no ‘hunger’ to return.
Most were resigned to creating a ‘new home’ in South Africa but Mozambique remained their ‘real home’. When asked they would refer to their place of birth, Mozambique, as their ‘real home’.
Many said life in Mozambique was considerably better than in South Africa. One said, "There is no life in South Africa", but although he was miserable, he did not want to return to Mozambique.
According to Golooba-Mutebi, the consensus after several debates was that life before the war was far better in Mozambique. Those adamant never to return, had lost kin or property during the war when the rebels systematically targeted civilians. Despite the trauma, Mozambique remains ‘home’.
There are those who see the current state of affairs in Mozambique as uncertain and would not want to return. Others had logistical constraints.
"They arrived in South Africa on foot and have no means to return, even if they wanted to," said Golooba-Mutebi.
Some are pragmatic, "South Africa offers better educational facilities and the opportunity to learn English as opposed to Portuguese."
A minority of the Mozambican residents said that they would return if they could. According to Golooba-Mutebi, these refugees say life is not easy with unemployment, no land for farming and the negative experience in terms of discrimination they have to cope with here.
In Golooba-Mutebi’s experience the discrimination is obvious with little social interaction between the two nationalities. The Mozambican residents mix in larger groups with individuals moving freely from one group to another.
The South African social scene is characterised by much smaller gatherings and suspicions of witchcraft.
The two groups do not generally attend each other’s funerals and the South African residents employ the Mozambicans as maids and general workers.
Golooba-Mutebi said that although some refugees do not care either way, most are reconciled to the idea that they will live in South Africa permanently, thus they have created a ‘home-from-home’.
This has been aided by the locals’ refusal to accept them and therefore created a circle of solidarity amongst the Mozambicans.
Increasingly Mozambican residents also have greater access to social security benefits for their children. Although the locals do not mingle with the Mozambicans, they are not hostile to them and tolerate their presence in this area."
In conclusion, Golooba-Mutebi questions the idea that repatriation is a lasting solution to the refugee problem.
He said it seems the idea of home is tied to a place and that "crossing a border does not take away a person’s identity."
Golooba-Mutebi says that these are his initial findings, and more research could be done on this issue.
by Lynette Strauss, Kruger Times
Labels: immigration, mozambique
posted by Kruger2Canyons.com at
Monday, October 25, 2004
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home