‘Getting angry with honest people’: The illicit market for immigrant ‘papers’ in Cape Town, South Africa

Alfaro-Velcamp, Theresa; McLaughlin, Robert H.; Brogneri, Gahlia; Skade, Matthew; Shaw, Mark R

doi:10.1093/migration/mnx022

Cited by 9 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Many attempting to extend their permits have encountered situations where their applications were denied or the validity of their four-year permits was reduced to just a few months. Despite clear indications-even on the department's noticeboards-that individuals granted refugee status should not be subjected to a second interview during permit renewal, officials from the Department of Home Affairs often disregard this stipulation and subject individuals seeking renewals to additional interviews (Alfaro-Velcamp 2017; Alfaro-Velcamp et al 2017). This has given rise to various forms of corruption and abuse within the system.…”

Section: Congolese Migrants In South Africamentioning

confidence: 99%

Between Informality and (Il)legality: Congolese Migrants’ Survival Mechanisms in South Africa

Lakika

2023

The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Scie

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Drawing on interviews with Congolese in Johannesburg, this research explains some of the impact of the discriminatory immigration laws in South Africa that expose refugees to various forms of precarity. I show that precarity becomes a driving force for these people to engage in illegal or unauthorized activities, and I analyze how Congolese refugees attempt to obtain legal status and adapt to intensified discriminatory immigration policies and practices. I argue that the criminalization of migration creates a paradox: it subjects migrants to increased vulnerability due to restrictive policies, but it also empowers them to assert their agency in response. Yet due to the generally illegal nature of their chosen activities, migrants are exposed to more exploitation, perpetuating their criminalization and vulnerability. I demonstrate the adverse outcomes of government antimigrant policies that push people into precarity without necessarily endorsing the illegal activities migrants may employ.

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Section: Congolese Migrants In South Africamentioning

confidence: 99%

Between Informality and (Il)legality: Congolese Migrants’ Survival Mechanisms in South Africa

Lakika

2023

The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Scie

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“…It further suggests, implausibly so, that foreigners are the cause of chaos and the high levels of victimization in the country (Mutongwizo, 2010;Alfaro-Velcamp, Shaw, 2016;Alfaro-Velcamp et al, 2017). The overtly misleading representations of the situation and perceptions of the other is arguably one of the causes of the high levels of xenophobic 4 violence in the country (Harris, 2002;Pretorius, 2004;Sharp, 2008;Misago, Landau, Monson, 2009;Martin, 2010;Singh, 2011;Foster, 2012;Ngwato, 2013;Patel, 2013;Hickel, 2014;Alfaro-Velcamp, Shaw, 2016;Alfaro-Velcamp et al, 2017;. The language of the media and the government also has bolstered the idea that South Africa needs to be protected (Harris, 2002;Misago, Landau, Monson, 2009).…”

Section: Concerns About Numbersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These encounters clearly have the potential to be traumatizing and constitute significant invasions into the self for the victims (Kirchhoff, 2005). Such invasions call for crisis intervention; however, given their illegal status (undocumented), these persons too experience institutional victimization when they are denied medical treatment at clinics and hospitals (MSF, 2009; or have required to pay excessive fees for treatment (Skonsana, 2016;Alfaro-Velcamp et al, 2017). Often the sexual victimization is carried out without condoms, increasing the risk of pregnancy and HIV/AIDS (Misago, Landau, Monson, 2009).…”

Section: Irregular Entrymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The changes of concern include denying entry of persons, limiting access to permits and the rights of asylum seekers to work and to education, and the closing and relocation of Refugee Reception Offices (RRO). This has resulted in many persons being forced to enter the country illegally, exposing them to human trafficking and the accompanying victimizations of theft, rape, assault and possible death during passage (MSF, 2009(MSF, , 2010Alfaro-Velcamp, Shaw, 2016;Alfaro-Velcamp et al, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Seeking refuge in South Africa: The victimization of vulnerable persons

James

2017

Temida

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M any Africans confront and deal with very trying situations in their countries that are very different from the comforts enjoyed in developed parts of the world. Labeled as a 'traumatized continent' (Norridge, 2013: 64), many Africans motivated by the basic human necessities for food and safety flee their countries, seeking refuge in South Africa. The large influx of refugees has given rise to invalid concerns from the government and the 'champions' of their interest (Mauss, 1975: 10), the media. These concerns have spurred changes in the practice of the asylum system which are aimed at targeting refugees, rather than improving their situation, increasing the vulnerability of persons already fleeing persecution: the refugees, the victims. The aim of this paper is to analyze the problem from a victimological stand point, and draw attention to the issue that more research needs to be conducted with victims to improve our understanding of the impacts these practices have.

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“…What has become the most valuable commodity for immigrants is the immigrant document establishing legal status to work and live in a host country or in a transit country (Alfaro-Velcamp et al, 2017). Immigrant governance controls how, when, and to whom immigrant papers are awarded.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Immigration Protocols and Extralegal Demands: A Comparison Between the U.S.-Mexican Borderlands and South Africa

Alfaro-Velcamp

Gómez²,

Brogneri³

et al. 2023

Migrat. Divers.

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This paper presents a comparative case analysis arguing that undocumented immigrants in the U.S.-Mexican borderlands and in South Africa become criminalised by navigating host and recipient country legal protocols and norms. The immigrants (often bonafide asylum seekers and refugees) live in host countries without the necessary legal immigrant papers and therefore lack legal status. Illegality attaches to this status and creates economic demands satisfied by those who produce unauthorised (or authorised) immigrant papers. At times, government functionaries participate in these extralegal economies, adding to the robustness of the illicit economies and further harming this vulnerable population of immigrants, refugees, asylum seekers, and undocumented migrants. (For this paper, the term immigrants is an umbrella term for all the migrants.) The criminalisation of immigrants is rooted in the actions or inactions of government actors in the Global North and Global South who deny immigrants legal standing in the host country or in transit. These government functionaries and their smuggler counterparts, in turn, create an extralegal demand for papers and profit from restrictive immigration protocols.

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‘Getting angry with honest people’: The illicit market for immigrant ‘papers’ in Cape Town, South Africa

Cited by 9 publications

References 13 publications

Between Informality and (Il)legality: Congolese Migrants’ Survival Mechanisms in South Africa

Between Informality and (Il)legality: Congolese Migrants’ Survival Mechanisms in South Africa

Seeking refuge in South Africa: The victimization of vulnerable persons

Immigration Protocols and Extralegal Demands: A Comparison Between the U.S.-Mexican Borderlands and South Africa

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