Zimbabwean Refugees in South Africa
Ubong Akpaninyie
Duke University
Professor Laurie McIntosh
Gender, Sex, and Citizenship
Cultural Anthropology 197
Fall 2011
This Situation Report (SITREP) focuses on the countless of Zimbabweans refugees currently living in the country south of the border, The Republic of South Africa. Forcibly removed or driven out by state-back political repression, persecution, or broad economic instability, thousands of Zimbabweans now call South Africa their temporary home.
Zimbabwean refugees face a number of challenges in South Africa. Most of them struggle to obtain legal asylum status from the South African government and struggle to get information on how they can legally stay in the country. Compounded with these legal burdens, many Zimbabweans are the targets of violence and xenophobic attacks as they are seen and vilified as outsiders ruining the internal cohesion of the country and unduly depleting the state of resources. Therefore, Zimbabweans not only struggle from victimhood in their native country but struggle for legal recognition and protection and social acceptance in South Africa.
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