cape town volunteer emiel advocacy

Emiel – Advocacy volunteer

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Emiel came to South Africa wanting to put his theoretical knowledge into practise. His time at Scalabrini has not only enhanced his skills and personal development, but it has also opened his eyes. He spent six months volunteering in the Advocacy Programme. Read about his time at Scalabrini below. 

As a volunteer, Emiel would spend most of his day providing supervised paralegal advice, practical assistance and referrals to vulnerable individuals and groups from refugee, migrant and asylum seeker communities. The clients that he would deal with came from many different countries around Africa, some have spent many years living here and others are new to the country. 

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“He says that his time here has awakened him to take notice of the problems South Africa faces regarding migrant and refugee rights. It has been a big reality check for him. One reads about refugees and migrants in different parts of the world in a newspaper, but it is very different when sitting across from a person with real problems, asking for help.”

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Being able to speak French would often be very useful as many clients come from countries where French is their first language and Emiel was able to step in and help his colleagues when there was a language barrier. 

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He says that his time here has awakened him to take notice of the problems South Africa faces regarding migrant and refugee rights. It has been a big reality check for him. One reads about refugees and migrants in different parts of the world in a newspaper, but it is very different when sitting across from a person with real problems, asking for help.

Emiel realised that when you look at the impact that you are making on a daily basis volunteering in an area like advocacy, it can sometimes feel relatively small and on a micro level, but when you hear that your effort made things work out, it gives you a feeling of satisfaction. He acknowledges that making an impact on a micro level is already very valuable for the individual client. 

He has learned a great deal while volunteering at Scalabrini, including information about the ins and outs of South Africa’s asylum system and the practical everyday barriers that many asylum seekers, migrants and refugees face in South Africa. Emiel has been able to put his theoretical skills and knowledge into practise, making it possible to make a difference for Scalabrini’s clients. 

Having had to return home to Belgium, Emiel says he might not be there for too long. He would like to work abroad , preferably somewhere where he can be involved with the protection and rights of refugees.” 

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cape town volunteer beza eap

Beza – EAP volunteer

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“I was born in Canada but grew up in Colorado, and ended up going out-of-state for college in North Carolina! I am currently a junior at Duke University, pursuing a double-major in African American Studies and Political Science. I ended up at Scalabrini through my study abroad program, and currently serve as an EAP intern. I chose this program specifically because I was drawn to the idea of having a hands-on internship experience, and I’ve definitely gotten that. 

On a typical day, I spend 8:30-12:30 helping at the EAP desk. For the first half hour, I search and update job postings in the area, and at 9am we start seeing clients and helping them create CV’s. I spend the afternoons either teaching a digital literacy class until 4, or calling clients to follow-up with them and see whether they  have found employment. I also grade tests, look up internships for specific clients, and deal with other paperwork. 

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“My favourite thing about being here is the clients, hands-down. I remember once having a bad day of classwork and just being really frustrated, and then checking my email and seeing that a client had sent me this really sweet and thankful email in response to the CV I’d made for him. Another client brought me a sweet gift and thank you note one time, and these little gestures of gratitude are really heartwarming and uplifting.”

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This is my first time in South Africa, and honestly, I’ve loved it. I still feel like there’s so much left to learn in terms of politics, though. I came in knowing it was going to be nuanced, but there’s so much to discover. I just feel like I’m going to get home and keep reading books on South Africa to try to better understand all these nuances. 

It feels like Cape Town has it all; beautiful, amazing people, beaches, vineyards, and although I’ve enjoyed my experience, Cape Town is so different from the rest of South Africa. I find myself wondering how authentically “South African” my time here has been. It’s not always realistic to explore and understand spaces like townships first-hand, and the extremes here are just so extreme. These crazy, massive mansions are 20-30 minutes from slums. I come from places of inequality, but the divides here are so much more shocking and apparent, and these inconsistent demonstrations of wealth  make me very critical of my role here. People are still very clearly oppressed and facing the consequences of apartheid.

My intern role has been really impactful, and my clients’ resilience and ability to create roots, home and stability in places that don’t want them or can’t have them is incredible. They are faced with challenges like xenophobia and oppressive government structures, but I am consistently impressed by their determination and persistence in times where I couldn’t imagine myself doing the same. I have also gained a lot of confidence in myself and my abilities since coming here. It’s so validating to feel like my work is seen and appreciated; back home and in university, everything is so competitive and can make you feel like you aren’t good enough, but being here has given me the opposite feeling which is so invigorating.

My favourite thing about being here is the clients, hands-down. I remember once having a bad day of classwork and just being really frustrated, and then checking my email and seeing that a client had sent me this really sweet and thankful email in response to the CV I’d made for him. Another client brought me a sweet gift and thank you note one time, and these little gestures of gratitude are really heartwarming and uplifting.

After I leave Scalabrini, I’m going to finish my last year and a half of college and apply for the Peace Corps. I’ve always known I wanted an English teaching position in francophone Africa, and this internship has made me feel more capable of succeeding in a role like that. 

My advice for future interns is to come in a position of humility and compassion every day, and when you’re at your most frustrated, to take a second and return to that place, remember why you’re here. My hope for future clients is that they feel as capable and empowered as they truly are, and to know that even in seemingly-hopeless situations, they are capable of achievement.”

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cape town volunteer laura eap

Laura Hickson – EAP volunteer

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“I was born and raised in Pascagoula, Mississippi, and graduated from the University of Mississippi last May. During my university experience, I studied abroad in Barcelona for a semester and then in Cape Town for a year. I loved my experiences in both, but knew I had to return to Cape Town before I’d even left. I remember sitting in a cafe not too far from Scalabrini and researching potential NGO’s. When I came across Scalabrini, I was really impressed with the work they do and wanted to contribute however I could.

I studied history and sociology while at school, and although I was passionate about my courses and found the content fascinating, I knew I wanted to keep traveling after graduation. I’m interested in the fields of human rights and social equality, so my placement with the Employment Access Programme has gone so well.

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“A lot of my motivation stems from my students and their eagerness to learn. My advice for future interns is to embrace these challenges that might be thrown at you, because they could shape some great relationships and opportunities for growth.”

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On a daily basis, I help clients make or update their CV’s, apply for jobs, and I also teach a Microsoft Excel course on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Recently, I’ve started working with the Women’s Platform, and I enjoy interacting with clients face-to-face and getting to understand issues of migration first-hand, instead of just as numbers and statistics. 

My favourite memory at Scalabrini has been teaching the Excel class, because it was such a challenge for me at first but has turned into something to look forward to. A lot of my motivation stems from my students and their eagerness to learn. My advice for future interns is to embrace these challenges that might be thrown at you, because they could shape some great relationships and opportunities for growth.

I plan on going to law school eventually, and want to specialize in human rights or immigration law. I’m especially passionate about the inequality of the criminal justice system, so long-term, I see myself doing work in that field.”

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Three insights on migration: Jane, our Welfare Officer

The Scalabrini team works with migrants and refugees every day. With such deep expertise at hand, we take the opportunity to reflect on migration with them. This month we speak to Jane, manager of the Welfare Programme, who finds beauty in the productivity and resilience of her clients, despite the hardships they face.

1. It takes a migrant to truly understand migration
As a migrant herself, Jane understands the journeys that her clients have been through. ‘Being a migrant from another African country, I think clients feel that we can relate with them’, she says. ‘I think they feel more comfortable with me, because I understand what it means to leave your family.’

2. Working with migrants will teach you the true meaning of resilience
Although Jane’s job is to assist migrants and refugees, they too have lessons for her. ‘My clients teach me about resilience’, Jane explains. ‘They risk their lives, their families – and they don’t even know where they are going to. They just go.’ The Welfare Programme see a range of clients, from those in extremely vulnerable positions with multiple needs (such as sick, elderly and disabled clients in unstable living conditions) to those that need guidance on accessing services. The response provided by the team depends on the needs, once the client is assessed. Jane recalls a specific case that illustrates resilience. A woman approached the Welfare Programme in desperate need: she was sick, unable to speak English, and with nowhere to sleep that night. With the gradual assistance of her team, Jane watched the client bloom into the woman she is today – a successful business woman, running her own restaurant. ‘We have been on a journey with her, and she has shown us her courage and resilience.’

3. Migration is an opportunity, not a threat – and we need to shift our mindset
Having worked in the migration sector for a decade, Jane has developed expertise in working with vulnerable migrants. Simultaneously, Jane watches as the South African government restricts migration. ‘We need to start perceiving migration as an opportunity. There are so many migrants that are bringing productivity to South Africa. I see that as an opportunity, not as a threat.’ Jane appreciates the richness of migration; she sees it in her work every day. For her, harnessing the potential of migration in South Africa is a missed opportunity – that South Africa, and her people, are missing out on.

About the Welfare Programme
The Welfare Programme assists clients with various basic needs – from clothing to hospital access. The Welfare staff assess clients’ needs and finds a sustainable way to assist, encouraging the client’s independence. To find out more, or make a donation, please email jane@scalabrini.org.za, or call us on +27 (0)21 465 6433.

cape town volunteer manon womens platform

Manon – Women’s Platform volunteer

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Manon’s studies have focused on peace building and conflict resolution, which has led her to work with refugees quite a bit. When it came time to find an internship, she was pointed in the direction of Scalabrini. Here she spent time with the Women’s Platform. Read more about her six months here. 

“I’ve grown up in Denhelder, Netherlands but moved around quite a bit, mostly for school. I moved to Amsterdam at 18 for my Bachelor’s in Anthropology, and then to Groningen for my first Masters, which focused on Religion, Conflict and Globalisation. After that, I moved to Malte for my second Masters, which I’m currently still pursuing in International Humanitarian Action. It’s a two year program, and the first year is split between Groningen and Malte, followed by half a year in Cape Town for this internship and then another six months back in the Netherlands for my thesis with the Red Cross. I was actually just accepted into that program this week, and I’m very excited!

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“Facilitating personal development and Conversation Club was a bit challenging for me at first, but has helped me build a lot of confidence. These roles have also allowed for a lot of one-on-one interactions with women. I’ve loved getting to know them and learning about the importance of  empathy and compassion in the process.”

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I chose to study Anthropology originally, because I loved the way it required me to talk to new people, study their cultures, and travel. I was doing a religious studies minor at the time as well, and started focusing a lot on Islam specifically, which is what led to my Master’s in Religion, Conflict, and Globalisation.

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A lot of my studies focused on peace-building and conflict resolution,  and I worked with refugees quite a bit. I found this work fascinating and knew I wanted to get involved in humanitarian aid work, which brought me here, to Scalabrini.

While in Malte, my studies were guided by a focus on refugees and migration, and I posted that I was looking for an internship in the field on a Facebook group with students from our masters program. A German woman who’d worked at Scalabrini for several years recommended that I apply. This is my first time in South Africa, and I have really enjoyed it. I didn’t know what to expect, and only knew I was coming to Cape Town about a month before starting my internship. It was kind of spontaneous, but I love all the different cultures and people I’ve been introduced to; Cape Town has so much to offer!

I currently serve as a Women’s Platform intern. Through this role, I lead personal development workshops, facilitate the weekly Conversation Club, run information and registration sessions every other Tuesday, help Amy with administrative tasks like inputting new member information into Salesforce, and helping out with Saturday platform events. Facilitating personal development and Conversation Club was a bit challenging for me at first, but has helped me build a lot of confidence. While in university, I used to get really nervous before presenting, but now I’m very comfortable. These roles have also allowed for a lot of one-on-one interactions with women. I’ve loved getting to know them and learning about the importance of  empathy and compassion in the process.

Conversation Club with Natalie has been my favourite thing to be part of. Although it’s always a bit chaotic, I’ve loved getting to watch the women grow in confidence, and they really appreciate what we do. Last Wednesday, we had a reflection and they told us about how initially, they were nervous to talk and share, but now they’ve grown comfortable speaking out in front of the class. It’s nice to create this safe environment for them and feel like we contributed to that transition. My advice to future interns is to be open-minded towards the whole experience, and not just to see it as an opportunity to help others but also one for personal growth.

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cape town volunteer jennifer basp wp eap

Jennifer – BASP, WP & EAP volunteer

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Jennifer split her time here between Women’s Platform, BASP and the Employment Access Programme. She will be heading home to work on her thesis where she will be comparing South Africa’s migration system with Sweden’s. Read more about her time here at Scalabrini. 

“I’m originally from Norsjo, Sweden, and lived there until around the age of 15, when I moved to Skelleftea for high school. Now, I attend university in Umea, and I’m doing a three and a half year social work program. I’ve chosen to study social work because I knew I wanted to work with people and was thinking about going on to become a psychotherapist! I’m fascinated by how the mind and people work, so I feel like that could be an interesting career. Since coming to Scalabrini, though, I feel like sticking to social work makes more sense because it seems better suited to my personality. It’s more interactive and less pressure, which I really like. 

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“I love Women’s Platform in particular because of how it works to uplift women and create a sense of community and opportunity for them.”

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This is my second time in South Africa, and my first time was in November 2017 when I came for a field study. I was placed in a mixed children’s home called Heathersdale for 2 months, and although I liked it, this time around feels more real and like I’m actually living here rather than just visiting.

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I felt like the differences between Sweden and South Africa were much more stark last time, and now I feel more rooted and comfortable. South Africa is very different from Sweden, and I think safety has been one of the big things for me. I also think Swedish social systems are better and more organised. I love the food here, though. My favourite is fried sushi- it’s amazing.

I came to Scalabrini through an organisation called African Sunrise. I needed an internship related to social work for my university program, and my role here is a mixture of EAP, Women’s Platform and BASP. I’m in EAP every Friday and for that I help with CV creation, doing phone calls to former clients and some administrative work like Salesforce. I’d say I’m evenly split between BASP and Women’s Platform. I love Women’s Platform in particular because of how it works to uplift women and create a sense of community and opportunity for them. Seeing them become able to support themselves is awesome. I do a lot of excel and organisational work with Women’s Platform, like editing on Canva, sorting papers and evaluating survey results to see how we can improve. With BASP, I mostly help out in the lab, but I also assist with smaller tasks like student printing, and yesterday I worked on updating the student progress wall!

I’ve learnt a lot since coming to Scalabrini. Some things I didn’t even realise, like how it’s improved my confidence level. I didn’t used to like making phone calls and talking to people as much as I do now, and I’ve also learned a lot about the migrant system and xenophobia in South Africa. This position has helped me grow professionally by giving me more of a sense of direction in terms of my future career, and I have really liked working in the NGO environment and feeling like I’m making a difference in people’s lives.

My favourite thing since coming here was being involved with the BASP election week. It was really awesome to see the students be creative and come up with cohort names and logos, and also just seeing them build relationships and bond with each other. After my role here ends, I’m going back to Sweden and writing my thesis with Fanny, where we’ll be comparing Sweden’s migration system to South Africa’s. Scalabrini has been so important in influencing our studies.

My advice to future interns is to be open to mixing it up. I’ve been able to meet so many more clients and learn a lot more about the work Scalabrini does through the versatility of my role, and it’s also prevented me from getting burnt out in one area. I’d also say be sure to ask all the questions you have and be open to learning and receiving new information.”

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cape town volunteer natalia portrait

Natalia – All Rounder volunteer

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Natalia reflects on how Scalabrini has enriched her career experience and allowed her to be more creative and open to things, opportunities and people. She spent her six months here as an All Rounder. Read more about her experience. 

“I’ve lived in the Netherlands my whole life and just wrapped up a job there where I was working as a management consultant. My fiance was placed in Cape Town for 6 months through his work, so I decided to join him. I wanted to do something totally different from the work I was doing back home, to escape the corporate world and experience an NGO. I did some research and came upon Scalabrini, which brings me here. 

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“I’ve learnt so much since coming here, specifically that you can do a lot with your free time. It really motivates me to go back home and invest some time in community to hopefully have a similarly rewarding experience.”

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This isn’t my first time in South Africa, actually, I think it’s my fourth. Cape Town is a really popular holiday destination for people from the Netherlands. I’ve loved it every time, though, so I was excited to come back. Here at Scalabrini, I’m an All Rounder, and I also do some work in Women’s Platform and organisational things like Salesforce. It’s been really nice to use my career background and familiarity with an interface like Salesforce to help the organisation move forward. 

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Working in an NGO has been really different, much different from commercial work. In NGOs you have real contact with people and get to know them on a more personal level which has been such a great experience. My day-to-day life varies a lot because I’m an All Rounder, which is a very flexible role. Sometimes I cover reception, and I co-facilitated the 9 week conversation club with Women’s Platform. That was one of my favourite parts; getting to know these women and seeing them grow in confidence was so cool. We saw a lot of progression in the 9 sessions, and they said they appreciated having a safe learning environment and growing in confidence which was the whole goal of the program, so that was really validating. I’ve also loved being involved with Women’s Platform events on Saturday’s and seeing how amazing and energetic the women are. This past weekend, women representing a few different countries were dancing on the stage and it was just one big party. It was so cool to see them enjoying themselves and feeling safe and having fun with each other.


I’ve learned so much since coming here, specifically that you can do a lot with your free time. It really motivates me to go back home and invest some time in community to hopefully have a similarly rewarding experience. My time at Scalabrini has also really enriched my career experience, and it has allowed me to be more creative and open to opportunities, things and people. When I go back to the Netherlands, I’m hoping for a bit of a career shift. I hope to work in digital product management, and am currently having a few interviews for jobs when I get back. My advice for future interns is to be open and flexible and to seek new opportunities.”

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Cape Town Reflections on Migration Miranda

Reflections on migration: Director Miranda Madikane

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For the past eleven years, Miranda Madikane has been the director of The Scalabrini Centre of Cape Town – a bustling NGO in the heart of Cape Town offering specialized services to migrants and refugees, who come from all over the African continent and Asia. She reflects on her position as director, and what the changes she has seen in Southern African migration.

1. You have a demanding job, being the director of such a busy, multi programme organization. What is your favorite aspect of your work?
Realizing how much we are actually managing to help people. Sometimes we help people in a really small way, and sometimes we manage to change people’s lives in a really significant way that’s really useful. There were times, looking back, where I remember thinking that helping a person is probably the most complicated thing that you can do, and the fact that we have the systems and the programs in place that support us in helping such high numbers of people on a daily basis is amazing. The amount of thanks and gratitude that we get from our clients makes me know that our work is valuable.

2. What is the most challenging aspect of your position?
I think it’s the crazy pressure, and the fact that no two days are alike. In some ways, you never know what you’re going to be smacked with. We’re an extremely responsive organization, so that means we are really hit by external events, which can be crazy because it adds a huge amount of pressure to daily work. On the other side, I’ve got the joy of being challenged on a spiritual level, on an ethics level, on an emotional level, on an intellectual level, on a physical level, so I think that’s really fulfilling. I often say to my team that we work as hard as any corporate, that we are under as much pressure as the corporate, but our goal isn’t profit, it’s change.

3. You work with issues of migration every day. What makes you so passionate about this topic?
Having now worked for so many years with migrants and refugees and asylum seekers, and having a legal framework that is one of the best in the world for protection, seeing how that plays out to support our clients when implemented properly is incredible. It feels so nice to be backed by a framework that supports the dignity and freedom and healing of clients in a way that allows them to control their own destinies.
It’s so important for us to have that legal framework, though, one that offers a route to neighboring countries and access to economic opportunities of the country. Such incredible productivity comes from the economic migrant. Their aspirations and their dreams and their energies are so positive for the country, plus, they bring new perspective! They bring new cultures, new songs, new hairstyles. These may be nuanced and perhaps not so tangible contributions, but they add to the flow. So I think migration, properly managed, can be so positive in our context and I feel like it’s wasted.

4. From your perspective, has migration to South Africa changed in nature over the last few years? If so, what kind of changes are we witnessing?
There’s been a shift from the management of migration being designed to support the vulnerable and those fleeing persecution. The government was not prepared to accept economic migrants into the country, and that’s what happened. There wasn’t a parallel system for immigration vs. protection, and as a result, people started using the refugee system to gain access to work permits. So the consequence of that was that home affairs was completely overwhelmed by numbers, and could never, ever manage individual status determinations for each and every single person who came. But instead of then opening up a system that allowed for economic migrants or migrants of aspiration, the government has chosen to tighten and reduce the protection space for all refugees and asylum seekers. And the sadness there is that those who are in real need of protection are finding it more and more difficult to access.

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“We’re definitely seeing more women, and I think that’s in line with what’s happening on a macro level – more women migrating for economic reasons, and for protection.”

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5. What kind of changes in client profile have we seen in the last few years?

We’re definitely seeing more women, and I think that’s in line with what’s happening on a macro level – more women migrating for economic reasons, and for protection. There’s also a big difference, of course, in access to documentation; we are supporting higher numbers of undocumented individuals. In 2012, 1% of the entire organization’s clients were undocumented. Now, it’s more like 24%. So it’s a massive shift, which of course reflects the reality of the closing of the space, the protection of the space.

6. How does Scalabrini react to these kinds of changes?

The increase in women saw the rise of the women’s platform, and it’s affected our strategic direction. I mean, we are very conscious of the rise of the undocumented, and that is something we constantly advocate around. As an organization we have to be extremely careful. We’re allowed to offer humanitarian aid, so you’ll see that in the employment access programme, you have to be documented to gain access to services. Otherwise it would be aiding and abetting an irregular migrant in accessing work. Our welfare desk is allowed to assist undocumented, because they are offering humanitarian aid. The advocacy programme speaks to undocumented, and if they have claim, gives them due process to approach an RRO. Our undocumented clients who have no claim, though, are normally told that the only way to legalize their stay in South Africa is to return to their home country and to make application in that way.

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7. Has the way that the South African government approaches migration changed over the last few years?
The South African government’s method of dealing with migration has shifted from a social to a security approach. South Africa sprang from a place where many of us had been refugees in exile from the apartheid regime, and it was based on the knowledge of what that meant to be in exile and to be running from your state that this beautiful refugee act was formed.

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I think the issue arose from the lack of resources and structure to support high numbers of refugee and asylum seekers coming into the system. The government’s knee-jerk reaction was to blame the migrant, so the asylum seeker and the refugee were demonized, instead of actually seeing that their failure is in lack of structure.

8. Looking to the future, how do you think migration to South Africa might change in the coming years? Are there things to be concerned about, and things to be excited about?
One of the big positive factors in the white papers is the introduction of the South African visa regime, which allows migrants from our region access to low-skilled work permits, cross-border informal trade permits, and small business enterprise permits. So that’s really exciting because it means that people can come in not on a pretense, but come in for the reason that they’re here and it’ll make it slightly easier for them. It also means that the circular migration will be much easier to achieve, and I think therefore the joining of South Africa to the rest of Africa will become much realer. And then, who knows? Maybe South Africans will say, “hey, maybe there’s opportunity for me in Kinshasa,” and you’ll see South Africans looking more broadly at opportunities and gaps in the market that are definitely there in the rest of the region.

The negatives are obviously the move to the border, the closure of the RRO’s [Refugee Reception Offices], the refusal of Home Affairs to obey court orders, the blaming of the refugee and asylum seeker for their management. I mean essentially, it is their [Home Affairs’] duty to control the decision-making of the RSDO’s [Refugee Status Determination Officer] and while I have sympathy for the numbers, I don’t believe that there’s any sincerity in their attempt to properly manage it. Those are all negatives, and what we see with, what they call the securitization approach or the externalization approach, is the criminalization of the migrant. At the moment, it’s a criminal offense to assist an irregular migrant but not a criminal offense to be an irregular migrant (it’s an administrative offense) but I think with this new approach, that will change. So you’ve got your individual person who decided to dream a dream becoming a criminal.

9. Migration is such a hot topic in South Africa. Is there a specific mind-shift that you think would be beneficial to our future as a country?
Right now, the government is looking at what’s happening in the rest of the world and tried to align themselves with a lot of first-world countries where there is a growth in populism, where migration is used for fear, where security is touted as the way to properly manage migration, where a lot of externalization is happening; you can see in Australia, and now in Europe, people are being held out of the borders of the places where they’re seeking asylum. So, that’s essentially what South Africa has been mirroring since about 2011-2012, and now it’s reaching its pinnacle with regulations for amendment coming in and the white papers clearly stating that they’re hoping to externalize.

I feel that the security of the nation lies in data that has integrity. So if you know what the movement of people is, and you know where they come from, and why they’re here, that, for me, offers protection. Not trying to build a wall that stops migration from coming through, because migration is like water. And you can’t really stop the flow of water, so you won’t stop the flow of migrants. With migration, we’re talking about the movement of people, but the migrant is a person.

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“With migration, we’re talking about the movement of people, but the migrant is a person.”

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Scalabrini Centre of Cape Town’s Comments on Draft Regulations to Refugees Act 2018

Scalabrini Centre of Cape Town’s Comments on Draft Regulations to Refugees Act 2018

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Cape Town Amena Saad Volunteer Story

Amena Saad: Communications Volunteer

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Amena Saad from North Carolina is studying photojournalism. After deciding to take a year out and hearing about Scalabrini from another volunteer Amena applied to become a communication volunteer for three months.

I finished my sophomore year in college, and while I’ve loved my experience thus far, I was eager for a change in pace and scenery. I’ve lived in North Carolina since I was two years old, and attend a university that’s about 20 minutes from my parents’ home. I love North Carolina, don’t get me wrong, but life was starting to feel a bit too familiar. Last March, I got the opportunity to take a gap year for the purpose of international service through my school’s Center for Social Justice. I chose Cape Town as my first destination because I have yet to hear a negative review about this place (did you know Cape Town is the most revisited city in the world? gasp!).

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I’d heard about Scalabrini from a previous volunteer who did the same gap year program I’m doing, and she had a really positive experience here. I was also excited by the prospect of doing work that doesn’t necessarily have my future or career at the focus, and my internship has been really fulfilling in that regard.

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The transition to South Africa wasn’t too difficult for me, and I credit that to the community I’ve been able to build with the other interns, who have become great friends, and also within Cape Town’s Muslim community! I’ve grown up in a Muslim household and my religion is a big part of my identity, so it’s refreshing to have so many mosques to explore and people who are welcoming and eager to make me feel at home. I also credit my love for this area with its natural beauty; weekend hikes and trips to the beach never get old, and there’s always somewhere new to experience. Seriously- last weekend I went to three different beaches; this place is wild.

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“I’m studying photo and video journalism in school, so my role as a communications intern is really well-suited to my interests. It has also promoted considerable growth, and I’ve learned so much from Jennifer, the communications manager, about different styles of photography.”

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On a daily basis, I interview clients and write their success stories, take photos and report on different events going on around the center, and work on smaller tasks like updating individual platform brochures and creating a new volunteer board in reception! My favorite memory at Scalabrini has been attending the Heritage Day potluck we had to celebrate our diverse backgrounds. Not only was the food delicious, but it was also fascinating to learn about the different cuisines of our staff and interns’ home countries!

My hope for the future at Scalabrini is that it maintains its positive and familial work environment. I feel so comfortable talking with and getting to know the various staff members, and am already dreading having to say goodbye at the end of all this.

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