Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Cape Town (Fides Service) - Cape Town has at 35,000 refugees from central African countries mainly from Democratic Congo, Rwanda, Burundi. “We have no exact figures because in the case of families the police assign one code number for identification rather than a different number for each member. This means they know the number of families but not the total number of refugees resident in Cape Town” Scalabrini Father Arcangelo in Cape Town told Fides. The Italian missionary has been involved for years now in assisting French-speaking refugees in South Africa. “This country’s attitude to refugees is schizophrenic. First it accepts them and then it does all it can to prevent their insertion into the social tissue of South Africa. Take for example the question of work. Many family men and mothers are denied working permits but their children are allowed to study and work. This would almost appear to encourage child labour. Thank goodness most adults respect their children and prefer to take an irregular job rather than see their children exploited”.
“Another contradiction in South Africa’s policy with regard to refugees is the absence of reception points for new arrivals. How is it possible that the poorest countries in Africa have reception camps but not rich South Africa?” the missionary asks.
“State social assistance in this country is by law offered exclusively to South African citizens. Although refugees are guaranteed health-care there are serious difficulties with regard to different language, culture, discrimination and xenophobia and refugees with chronic, long term illnesses such as AIDS, malaria, TB need special care” Father Arcangelo told Fides. “With this in mind we have set up home based care which consists in visiting the sick at home, accompanying them to hospital, helping them to communicate and see their health-care rights are respected, offering moral support and helping the rest of the family and children especially in the case of widows and one parent families ” Father Arcangelo told Fides.
“Another situation which concerns the Scalabrini community with its collaborators and volunteers is that of refugees with a disability” Father Arcangelo said. “By law social support for disabled, the families and children is given exclusively to South African citizens, not to migrants or refugees. We have a service called Kilema (disabled in Swahili). Forty people come together once a month to share experience and to train for some occupation. Each of them has been helped to start some activity street vendor, shoemaker, computer technicians”.
“Another priority is to make sure refugees have access to legal assistance” the Scalabrini missionary said. “These people do not speak English, they are unaware of their rights and they are left to fend for themselves, no one explains anything to them. To meet their needs we are planning to open office for legal counselling which will be in contact with the Home Affairs Office Refugee Sector. For this project we plan to employ two full time lawyers, both of whom are originally from Congo”. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 26/5/2004 righe 48 parole 614)
