Human rights and migration: perspectives of Zimbabwean migrants living in Johannesburg, South Africa

This qualitative study explored the migration experiences of Zimbabwean migrants living in Johannesburg between 2000 and 2016 from a human rights perspective. As a global reality affecting almost all nations, migration has gained humanitarian and political prominence and is a major policy concern in several countries. Although migration is critical for human survival and prosperity, it requires systematic management, especially since most migrants gravitate to cities, where they are confronted with a multiplicity of challenges that inhibit their successful incorporation and full participation in the social, cultural, economic, civil, and political spheres of their host societies. As is the case in many countries of the Global South, Zimbabwean migrants in Johannesburg faced serious human rights abuses. This study brought to the fore the inherent economic, cultural, and political injustices faced by the migrants in this study and demonstrated how these injustices became obstacles to successful integration in Johannesburg. The study used Nancy Fraser’s social justice framework to decipher the injustices associated with human rights and migration. A systematic review of the literature revealed a growing tendency to construct and manufacture migration crises when these were non-existent. This study, therefore, employed a compassionate and humanitarian view of migration to highlight the injustices suffered by Zimbabwean migrants in Johannesburg. It used in-depth interviews with 16 (eight males and eight females) Zimbabwean migrants and six key informants whose responsibilities related to migration. The key informants came from health, social work, and legal backgrounds. The findings revealed that documentation was a pressing challenge for all the migrants, with undocumented migrants being the worst affected. Undocumented migrants in this study endured poverty and destitution, were constantly harassed by corrupt public officials, and lived on the periphery and in the shadows of South African society. All the migrants experienced prejudice and discrimination, extreme levels of xenophobia, and lacked representation, while others were excluded by their inability to speak indigenous South African languages. Nevertheless, the migrants exhibited resilience bolstered by their social and kinship ties, which enabled them to survive in Johannesburg. The study proposed realistic remedies to improve migrant lives in Johannesburg including the introduction of regional passports and removal of visa requirements; establishment of migrant-friendly resource centres; reframing migration discourse; fostering migrant entrepreneurship; and promoting migrant representation.