Research Activities
Research Projects
FY 2015/2016 Research Topic: C-17
Survival Strategies of Congolese Asylum Seekers in South Africa
Outline
Violent conflicts, political instability and economic impoverishment in some African countries generated a large number of asylum-seekers, refugees and economic migrants in the 1990s. Some fled to democratic South Africa, which has the most liberal refugee policy on the continent. In spite of the legal protection given to asylum-seekers and refugees, however, their influx was seen as an extra “burden” by the government and citizens, which had just initiated programmes to redress the economic inequality and achieve national reconciliation. This tension was shown most tragically by the large-scale xenophobic violence in May 2008 that shocked both South Africa and the international society. This study explores the survival strategies of Congolese asylum-seekers and refugees in South Africa by examining their life histories, work experience, connection to home and future aspirations in a country which isn’t really welcoming them.
Period
April 2015 - March 2016
Members of the Research Project
| [ Organizer ] | SATO Chizuko |
Publications
- Articles to be submitted to academic journals