RE-IMAGING MARGINALITY COVID-19 AND THE CHANGING FORTUNES OF SOUTH AFRICA’S FOREIGN MIGRANTS By Rev Dr Buhle Mpofu
Police remove foreign migrants from the Central Methodist Church in Cape Town, Sourth Africa, Thursday, April 2, 2020. The migrants, who had been sheltering there for months, refused to leave the church and had previously demanded that South Africa relocate them to other countries, including the United States and Canada, because they had been victims of xenophobic threats in South Africa last year. (AP Photo)
The global impact of corona virus has dominated recent developments alongside the invidious protests against racism sparked by the horrendous death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis, United States of America (U.S.A). We have seen a renewed call for justice as Black Lives Matter (BLM), an international human rights movement originating from African-American community, mobilise people to stand up against racism and hegemonic structures that institutionally sustain remnants of White supremacy. Despite fears for the spread of coronavirus during protest marches, global activists have seized this opportunity to organise solidarity marches and demand institutional reforms in the justice systems and an end to racist and unjust practices. The protests have also demanded decolonisation of global institutions and some protesters have pulled down or defaced statues of colonial figures like Winston Churchill in London, and Rhodes in Southern Africa. Those agitating for transformation recognise these statues as representations of symbolic and institutional violence against victims of colonialism. As coronavirus and this global call for change reset the world, it is important that focusing on the legacies of colonialism be expanded to help us address all forms of injustices created and sustained by the empire, including the challenges experienced by migrants, refugees and asylum seekers. One of the legacies of the colonial borders was the creation of disparities between racial, ethnical and indigenous groups of people through restricted movement, limiting economic opportunities for
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segregated Black people. This is clearly visible in the US and in South Africa. For example, COVID-19 has exposed these racial inequalities as it disproportionately devastated minority communities in the USA. In South Africa, infections were severe and had catastrophic socio-economic consequences in poor black communities in Cape-Town. In responding to a global call for justice and restoration of human dignity for Black and minority groups who have been exploited by generations of White supremacists, it is critical that we also pay attention to situation of migration as most migrant workers were left stranded as governments implemented urgent measures to curb the spread of corona virus. This is one example of how authorities can be supremacist and reflect the colonial hangover mentality which thrives on segregation and exclusion. Global responses to COVID-19 were marked by lockdowns which restricted movement to limit the spread of the virus and enforce social distancing measures. Closing of borders and restricting movement impacted negatively on migration flows, and meant that most migrant workers were abruptly removed from their places of work when their companies closed without necessary arrangements for their welfare and safety. Refugees and asylum seekers fleeing wars and violence were left stranded in transit communities where they are often framed as a security threat and sometimes criminalised as undocumented. Criminalising movement for people seeking safety and ignoring their plight is not anything new for the time of COVID-19, this has become a symbolic representation of institutional
INSiGHT | June 2020
