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The Spirit of Christmas comes to Zimbabwean refugees (at a city in South Africa)
Sokwanele
January 15, 2006

http://www.sokwanele.com/articles/sokwanele/spiritofchristmas_15jan2006.html

Tiny hands, none of them chubby, clapped and each child bobbed a polite curtsy as pink and white marshmallows, Liquorice All-Sorts and crunchy biscuits appeared in front of their astonished eyes. A few of the smallest hesitated briefly: making choices is something refugee and asylum seeker children from Zimbabwe are no longer accustomed to.

Soon, however, their reticence was forgotten and they were just like any other youngsters at a Christmas party, clutching brightly coloured balloons tied with festive string, experimenting with new toys and dancing around the room in excitement.

One little boy was entranced by a cuddly lion which roared when its tummy was squeezed and had eyes that lit up like miniature headlights. The boy rushed back and forth across the room, demonstrating his new find to family members and friends.

Taking pride of place in the centre of the room was a large pile of colourful toys provided through "Toy Story", a project sponsored by a local radio station. The hula-hoops were an immediate hit. A pretty young girl with neatly braided hair spun one, two and then three so skilfully around her little body that the other children were captivated. Some tried to copy her, others just rolled their hoops up and down, laughing in delight.

Clutching a big, red teddy bear in one hand and a Barbie doll in the other, the grandson of a blind lady could not contain his enthusiasm. His granny had to feel each toy carefully and discuss its merits. Eventually the teddy took pride of place on the chair next to her and the doll was returned to the pile.

Although his grandmother could not watch the festivities, she took great pleasure in the children's laughter and the attentiveness of her son and daughter-in-law. Soon she was tucking into a plate of briyani and chatting to a friend. For a brief moment she could forget the traumatic journey from Zimbabwe, the worries of surviving in a foreign country, and do what ordinary grannies around the world do: enjoy a Christmas party with family and friends.

Zimbabweans are by nature hospitable people. Those who work with the refugees find it inspiring that, even though they now live in demoralising and often squalid surroundings in South African cities and towns, they have retained their dignified politeness and concern for one another. The unspeakable violence perpetrated on Zimbabweans by the Mugabe regime through its armed forces and youth militia does not reflect the intrinsic character of the Zimbabwean people.

Conversations during the party were conducted mainly in Shona. Since the refugees come from different parts of Zimbabwe and are now scattered in a variety of poor areas close to the city centre, some were meeting for the first time. A number had been in South Africa for more than a year, others had left Zimbabwe after the demolition of their homes in mid 2005 by the Mugabe regime. Despite extensive international coverage of the horrific demolitions and the publication of a damning report on "Operation Murambatsvina" (Operation Drive Out the Filth) by the United Nations, the destruction continues at an insidious, low profile level.

Two organisations had helped with additional food for the group. Piled comfortingly in one corner of the room were sacks of grain, fresh bread and tinned foodstuffs delivered by Feedback Food Redistribution, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) committed to helping needy people. Feedback collects good quality excess food that would otherwise have been wasted from a spectrum of outlets and distributes it to social services organisations in some of South Africa's poorest communities.

Gift of the Givers, the largest humanitarian disaster relief organisation of African origin on the continent, had donated a box of its high energy protein supplement, Sibusiso Foods. Gift of the Givers was the first NGO to respond to the 2004 tsunami disaster in Sri Lanka and Somalia, and has been involved in significant humanitarian work in Niger and Malawi. The venue was provided by a church committed to highlighting the plight of the Zimbabwean people and offering a daily soup kitchen service to anyone in need.

Finding a means of earning a living is the biggest challenge refugees face. Thousands of new arrivals go for days without food, shelter or even a change of clothing. Many have been tortured or beaten up by the Mugabe regime and are in dire need of medical attention. Some have been held in youth militia camps and raped repeatedly.

Schooling presents a significant problem for parents who have brought children with them as they are usually desperate for their youngsters to resume some form of education. Most parents whose children have been left behind with family members because of the uncertainties presented by life in a foreign country struggle to send money home for rapidly escalating school fees.

Two especially vulnerable teenagers who had been invited to the party were "Phillip" (18) and "Patricia" (12) - their names have been changed for security reasons. Both of their parents had died in Zimbabwe and they had come to South Africa with their elder sisters. They had grown up in a small farming town but had subsequently moved to Harare and were also victims of Operation Murambatsvina. Their family had lost everything.

Since Philip and Patricia want to continue their schooling in South Africa, an appointment had been set up with a social worker at one of the organisations tasked by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees to assist asylum seekers. However, since funding is very limited and it is estimated there could be three million or more desperate Zimbabweans who have fled to South Africa, organisations in this country are ill equipped to deal with the escalating influx.

A few weeks back, Phillip, who looks far younger than his age and is reed thin, was attacked by a group of local youths who stabbed him and robbed him of his pathetically few possessions. He was unable to attend the party because it was held on a Saturday and he generates a small income selling sweets to holidaymakers. At the organisers' instigation, Patricia carefully tied together a bundle of treats for him in a well-used bag.

Patricia and her older sisters expressed the family's concern that there was still no news of their other brother, "Richard" (19). He had disappeared a few weeks previously and was thought to have been picked up by the South African police as an illegal immigrant. Their greatest fear was that he had been sent to the Lindela Detention Centre outside Johannesburg, or had been deported. At Lindela, thousands of Zimbabweans continue to be held prior to deportation, and a steadily growing number has died. Lawyers for Human Rights have contacted the authorities at Lindela, but so far Richard has not been found.

It is possible he has been taken from Lindela and forced to board the overnight train from Johannesburg to Mussina, which hauls vast numbers of illegal migrants back to the Zimbabwean border every couple of weeks. Since the detainees are so fearful of returning to the hunger, oppression, disease and hopelessness they face back home, many risk serious injury or death by jumping from the moving train. Detainees who are handed over to the Zimbabwean police at the Beit Bridge border post are frequently beaten before being dumped penniless at the roadside outside the small, drab, dusty town, with no means of getting home. Without cell phones it is virtually impossible for family members to remain in contact, so Phillip and his siblings can only hope and pray that their brother is still alive.

It was getting late and some of the smallest children were asleep in their mothers' arms, still clutching newfound toys. The adults helped to tidy the room, then the sacks of grain and tins of food were piled into one of the organisers' car. The blind lady declined a lift back to her dingy accommodation because she had arranged to meet someone at the nearby taxi rank.

At that time of day the rank was especially busy and people were congregated among the piles of waste paper and other refuse, talking animatedly. Taxis took off rapidly in different directions and it was hard to imagine how a sightless person could cope in the apparent chaos. By rights she should have been at home with her family in Zimbabwe, crocheting the beautiful tablecloths that tourists from around the world used to flock to buy. Instead, she spends her days begging for food at traffic lights so that she too can make a contribution to the meagre family pot.

If people in South Africa and further afield realised the depth of the refugees' pain and the extent of their struggle to survive and overcome homesickness in the face of widespread xenophobia, offers of help would doubtless pour in. Every act of kindness, however small, can make a difference to Zimbabweans who, through no fault of their own, find themselves destitute in a foreign and often hostile land.

Anyone willing to provide assistance to Zimbabwean refugees in South Africa or elsewhere is invited to contact either the Central Methodist Mission, Johannesburg, or the Zimbabwe Action Support Group. Both organisations are in touch with a spectrum of churches and other support organisations that are struggling to help the millions of desperate, destitute refugees. Urgent needs include food, clothing, blankets, funds for medical assistance, training, basic set-up projects etc. The refugees have not only to support themselves in a foreign and often hostile country but also support family members back home. The Central Methodist Mission is currently setting up training programmes which require urgent funding. The Zimbabwe Action Support Group assists destitute Zimbabweans, notably pregnant women and young children, on arrival in South Africa.

Latest report by African Commission on Human and People's Rights condemns violations of human rights and mass displacements in Zimbabwe
Sokwanele notes that the African Union has released a second report on the grave situation regarding human rights in Zimbabwe compiled by its African Commission on Human and People's Rights. The first, a damning report which slammed Harare's record of abuses, was produced in 2002. It concluded that there were flagrant human rights abuses and arbitrary arrests in Zimbabwe and was the organisation's most serious African indictment of President Mugabe's authoritarian regime. African foreign ministers adopted the report but then agreed in July 2004 not to publish it as the Zimbabwe government claimed it had not had enough to time to study the full document.

The African Commission on Human and People's Rights' latest resolution expresses "alarm" at "the number of internally displaced persons and the violations of fundamental individuals and collective rights resulting from the forced evictions being carried out by the government of Zimbabwe." It "urges the African Union to renew the mandate of the African Union Envoy to Zimbabwe to investigate the human rights implications and humanitarian consequences of the mass evictions and demolitions."

The strongly worded document also "urges the government of Zimbabwe to cease the practice of forced evictions throughout the country, and to adhere to its obligations under the African Charter on Human and People's Rights and other international human rights instruments to which Zimbabwe is a party..."

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