UK DSA Conference 2010

1. UK DSA Conference 2010 “Enduring Inequalities? Pervasive Inequalities with the Zimbabwean communities in Limpopo Province, SA and Leeds, United Kingdom” Liberty Mupakati School of Geography, University of Sheffield

2. Introduction • Migration and the allure of SA & UK • Current and previous migration trends • Modern Zimbabwean migration & the demise of gender as an impediment to movement • Study area • Conclusions

3. Historical perspective • Movement to SA as old as migration itself – goes back to the WENELA days • Way of life for communities in the south and western parts • Migration part of livelihood strategy • People who live along the border visa exempt as are civil servants

4. Genesis of the modern Zimbabwean mobilities • Migration to UK for higher education due to the high regard and esteem that British education is considered • First major wave round 1996 as part of the Project 2000 Nurse training which made bursaries available for foreign students wanting to train as nurses • November 1997, Black Friday when the Zim$ crashed against the US$ due to unbudgeted for expenditure to pay gratuities to war veterans

5. Genesis ctd • February 2000, Mugabe and ZANU PF lose the referendum for the draft constitution • Defeat spearheaded by DC party and coalition of other groups e.g. ZCTU, NCA, CFU etc • Mugabe concedes defeat • Shortly after, ZANU PF sponsored farm invasions

6. Genesis ctd • Reprisals against commercial farmers for supporting MDC • Zimbabweans leaving for the UK – lured by the strength of the pound – many buying houses, kombis, and American trucks • No visa requirement to enter into the UK

7. Genesis ctd • Many did return home once objective attained • Accelerated land reform impacted negatively on the agriculture driven economy • Channelling of professionals due to structural and historical reasons – legacy of colonialism • Exodus in full flow post 2000, reaching its peak in 2002 for the UK.

8. SA Migration Trajectories • High use of informal channels to go to SA • Visa controls between Zimbabwe and SA till April 2009 • Border jumpers seen as chicken fodder to criminal elements (maguma guma) • Attacks by maguma guma well coordinated – double trouble – one group will deliver you to another for further assaults • Employ runners to recruit potential customers • Some sophisticated – have graduated from foot guides to smugglers with wheels – complicit immigration staff facilitate entry on both sides of the border for a fee • Buses and cross border haulage trucks

9. UK trajectories • Many came prior to November 2002 • Nov 2002, visa imposed. Number of arrivals in continuous decline since • Focus turned to passports of other nations still exempt e.g. Malawi, SA, Lesotho. • Easiest entry point was via City of London Airport • Choice of airline important, Air Zimbabwe avoided • Travelling through multiple countries advised for entry clearance purposes • Scotland and Ireland considered to be easy entry points as well • Transit visas and then disappear once in London • Diplomatic passports • Student visas • Role of religion

10. SA as launch pad • Visa regime - focus turned to SA and other countries in the region • Established social networks • Established tradition of crossing the border informally – border jumpers • Limpopo is a transit centre – have to find work for bus fare • Temporary stay in SA whilst planning to make journeys abroad • Casual labour, prostitution, petty crime

11. Demographics • More males than females in both areas under study • In SA18-35 age group predominates • In UK its the 28-45 age cohort • Majority in both countries are married • There is an over-representation of the 18-23 age cohort in SA than in UK – indicative of different levels of social mobility- in UK this age group is likely to be pursuing higher education rather than work – if working its part time rather than to sustain a family • Marriage is socially constructed and an important institution in Zimbabwe – poor tend to marry young than their rich opposites • Cohabitation quite popular in the UK – saving costs, societal attitudes etc • Significant minority 22-55 age group widowed – effects of the HIV/AIDS pandemic; more widows than widowers – consistent with UNDP’s (2004) observation about there being more AIDS widows than widowers • High rate of divorces/separations amongst Zimbabweans in UK – divorce frowned upon in Zim so people have to live with each other despite not standing each other – role of extended family in ironing out some marital problems not there – no mediation

12. Education • Majority of respondents have at least secondary school level of education • UK based respondents better qualified than their SA counterparts • More interviewees in UK hold undergraduate degrees acquired in Zim than those in SA • More respondents in UK pursuing university education than those in SA • More males with Zim awarded degrees than females • In Leeds, more female respondents pursuing university education than males, same for FE colleges in and around Leeds since 2005. • Health and medical sciences and social work courses • In SA, not much learning except for recipients of the Presidential Scholarships • Many from southern and western parts of the country don’t have qualifications in both SA and UK

13. Immigration status • Immigration status very fluid for Zimbabweans more so in UK than SA • Zimbabweans found in any one of the following statuses: visitor, student, asylum seeker, business visa, undocumented, work permit, visa overstayer, family reunion, settlement, ILR, refugee, citizen etc • Not uncommon for one to move from one status to the other depending on circumstances • In UK, many came as visitors and changed to become any one of the above • Asylum popular route to regularise one’s status BUT also one of the last resort due to the attendant restrictions that come with it • Asylum permits in SA from April 2009 on any Zimbabwean who seeks it. • Visas abolished for people to use official channels into SA & SADC regional integration agenda • Primary driver of inequality – documented status open doors to • Leeds- dispersal and clustering • Work permit holders mostly nurses and social workers • Majority of undocumented migrants in UK and SA are males – as long as they can still work there is no need to disturb the status quo

14. Interpretations and experiences of the diaspora • Diaspora as exploitative: through the twin scourges of underemployment and underpayment. • Undocumented most at risk • Exploitation also by Zimbabwean employers e.g. domestic workers in UK • Domestic workers in Leeds not being sourced from Zim but actually people whose asylum claims would have been rejected • Desperation manifesting itself through highly educated people accepting jobs as nannies, farm labourers, live-in carers • People working long shifts and holding more than one job- continental shifts • Sexual, emotional, verbal, physical, and psychological abuse very prevalent • Deskilling: Migrants complained about being deskilled due to spending a long time out of work • Length of asylum process in both SA and UK • Qualifications not being recognised e.g. PGCE • Low paid jobs only entry channels into paid employment

15. Types of diaspora • Reluctant diaspora: Mostly men and a few women who held senior jobs in Zim who left to join their spouses • Have not adjusted to the gruelling demands of living and working in the diaspora • Cannot find jobs befitting the status that they used to have in Zim – now work and live in the same neighbourhoods with people that they consider to be beneath them • Only left Zim reluctantly, often to join a spouse who had come over • Frequently pack their bags and go home but still come back again because Zim has moved on without them • Grumpy and nostalgic about the power and influence that they used to have in Zim

16. Inadequate housing • Poor housing arrangements especially in SA • Asylum seekers in SA stay in transit shelters • In UK, NASS • Poor neighbourhoods • Shacks (mukhukhu)- made of corrugated irons sheets/plastic/mud etc. • Infested with vice activities • House sharing– saving strategy • Housing problems – it permeates across the whole spectrum of migrants