Refugees open up over 'persecution' in SA

A day of commemoration has brought sadness to most refugees in SA due to the violence and persecution they face on a daily basis. 

Bih Marie, 40, left Cameroon in 2016 due to the civil unrest in the south region of her home country and headed to SA seeking refuge and a better life.  

“I left my country due to the crisis [there], marked by violence and killings. I came to SA, and I got to Pretoria to get my refugee status which I was only given one month for,” she said. 

Marie said when the status expired she tried to renew but it was denied.

“They told me the conditions and reason to seek and claim refugee [status] was not a valid reason and that there was no war in my country.”  

Cameroon has a long-running ethnic violence that has displaced communities in the southwest region neighbouring Nigeria.

Marie said without the proper documents she struggled to find work and kept doing seasonal jobs.  

“With the little money I could make, it took me years but I eventually opened a small salon where I knew that my talent for working hair can help me make a living.”  

Marie said she was getting by until the incident that led to her being paralysed in 2020.  

“I was closing the salon but a lady who was desperate to get her hair done for work stopped me. I decided to help. The robbers came in when I still washing her and shot me and took my stuff.”  

Marie said that she was taken to the hospital by the landlord who had heard the gunshot.

“At the hospital I was told that the bullet was sitting in a critical place in my spine and removing it would permanently paralyse me. The police came to the hospital and told me to come to the station and open a case once I was discharged. But fearing for my life, my brother told me not open a case as he feared the people who shot me would come after me."  

Now wheelchair-bound, Marie said her life has changed for the worst as she can’t do anything for herself.

“I can’t walk. I don’t have anyone who can fully help me and half of the time I must ask people for money because I can’t make it myself. I have children to provide for, who rely on me, but I can barely make enough. Often, I don’t even have money to buy the medications I need.”  

Marie added that her situation and life as a refugee are worsened by living in a country where she isn’t welcomed.  

“I feel like a beggar, and they treat me like I am not human at all. I am constantly afraid.”  

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)  spokesperson Laura Podoan said they are aware of the violence that occurs against refugees and asylum seekers who leave their homes for SA and it is a matter of concern. 

“We are working to foster [safety] for refugees and asylum seekers who travel to SA seeking refugee status and we are aware of the rise [of violence against them] and how they are targeted, especially in xenophobic attacks,” said Podoan. 

Podoan said in cases of violence, police are contacted while counselling is provided for victims. 

“There are protection teams integrated into communities who are there to support and help in regards to violent cases and what more we can do is to communicate with police officials and provide counselling where needed and to also spread information that there is help provided when needed,” said Podoan. 

She said the importance of World Refugee Day is “to not only to help refugees but provide opportunities for them and to also commemorate their courage because it’s not easy to leave your home".

"About 108.4-million people so far have been recorded to have fled their homes for various reason; refugees, asylum seekers and others they all need support and solutions for their plight."

A Zimbabwean national who asked to remain anonymous said that refugees are treated unfairly and are never given a chance in the country.

“We aren’t wanted in our own countries and not welcome in others. Where are we supposed to go? We want help and to be treated fairly but we are taken advantage of and persecuted,” he said.  

He said that as a Zimbabwean national, he is often judged based on where he comes from when people don’t really understand what’s happening in the country.  

“When I tell people that I am a refugee from Zimbabwe, they all believe that I’m lying because there is no war in Zimbabwe. They don’t know [about] the economic and political unrest that is happening there.

"I am an activist and faced political persecution in my country. I can't go back there [until it's safe to do so]. Officials [at home affairs] don’t understand this and don’t listen when I tell them my story why I need the refugee status,” he said.  

Lumumba Chia, a political activist from Cameroon, left the country in 1999 due to political persecution and civil unrest in the country.  

“I was part of the movement against the government [of Cameroon] and some of us were blacklisted. My life was in danger. When I arrived in SA, my aunt called and told me not to return as I would be killed.”  

Chia, who has since acquired his refugee status permit, said life as a refugee is difficult because “one is always questioned about documents to prove your status”.  

“People don’t understand that we didn’t just make this document, they were legally given to us. But they don’t care, always finding a way to accuse us of being crooks.

"The day (World Refugee Day) highlights the pain and persecution we experience. It really makes me feel sad because Africa is home and yet we are persecuted."