African Human Mobility Review

Editorial

Prof Mulugeta Dinbabo — Sun, 30 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Migration in Southern Africa

Prof Daniel Tevera — Sun, 30 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0000

South Africa’s Involvement in Counterinsurgency in Cabo Delgado: The Inclusion of the Views of Mozambican Migrants as an Alternative People-Centric Approach

Joseph Makanda — Sun, 30 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Most scholarship on terrorism in Cabo Delgado (Mozambique) has focused on the nature and causes of the insurgency, who the insurgents are, where the insurgents come from, their underlying needs, and how the current military operations may be successful from a state-centric perspective. As a result, the role of non-state actors, such as migrants, has been left out. This is a qualitative study that relies on secondary data sources to offer a critical survey of the work done in the context of terrorism in Cabo Delgado. Using the counterinsurgency theory, the paper argues for the inclusion of the voice of Mozambican migrants in South Africa’s involvement in counterinsurgency in Cabo Delgado as one of the ways of developing a population-centric non-military approach. This is founded on direct and indirect ways of securing the population’s support, thereby isolating the insurgents in Mozambique. An awareness of the views of these migrants can shed light on what perpetuates the insurgency in Mozambique. The paper suggests new empirical studies that include the seemingly forgotten role of
migrants, in a non-military and people-centered approach in seeking to undermine global terror networks.

Who Wants to Go Where? Regional Variations in Emigration Intention in Nigeria

Tunde Alabi, Bamidele Olajide — Sun, 30 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0000

There has been an increase in the number of Nigerians desperately leaving the country. In the absence of accurate data on the rate of actual emigration, this study investigated emigration intention in Nigeria, and how it varies between northern and southern Nigeria – two regions with perennial sociocultural differences that have been neglected in migration research. The study also investigated the factors associated with emigration intention. It utilized secondary data from the Afrobarometer survey, including 1,600 Nigerian adults aged 18 and above. Logistic regression models were fitted to address the study objectives. The study found that the emigration intention rate in Nigeria was 35.5%, but it varied from 30.3% in the north to 40.3% in the south. The rate ranged from 26% in the north-east to 46.4% in the south-eastern part of the country. The most preferred destination for northern Nigerians was another country in Africa (32.4%), but it was North America for southerners (43.2%). At the multivariate level, the study found that living in the south, being educated, using the internet frequently, having tolerance for homosexuals, and participating in politics increased the likelihood of
emigration intention. However, being old, employed and having religious tolerance reduced the odds of emigration intention. The regional models revealed notable differences in the influence of age, education, employment, tolerance, and political participation. The study discusses the implications of the findings.

Mobility, Gender, and Experiences of Familyhood Among Migrant Families in Tsholotsho, Zimbabwe

Gracsious Maviza, Lorena — Sun, 30 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Migration has a long-standing history in Southern Africa. This paper aims to understand how ongoing contextual transformations due to migration actively shape narratives about families. Specifically, how families and familial relationships have been constructed through the everyday interactions and roles within the family. Through the family histories method, we generated novel data that shows how family
accounts transcend normative boundaries of familyhood and how they change in time and across place, which, we argue, are required to understand migrant families. We adopt a multi-sited and gendered approach to gather data from left-behind women in Tsholotsho and migrant men in Johannesburg. The findings show that the meaning of family for left-behind women has remained confined to the normative parameters of kinship, biological, and marital ties. In the past, with husbands and fathers who migrated, families invoked substitute authority in decision-making, where power was conferred onto other men, perpetuating patriarchal dominance and gender inequality. Furthermore, the findings reveal that in the past, while away, migrant men’s familylinking practices were very minimal, limited by distance. For migrant men, migration invoked a reconceptualization of family that differs from the normative assumptions of family composition. These assumptions notwithstanding, migrant men still thrived on maintaining links with their families to retain their dignity and legitimacy.

Editorial

Mulugeta Dinbabo — Thu, 25 Aug 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Impact of Migration on Non-Migrant School Completion Rates and Enrolment in South Africa

Farai Nyika, Debra Shepherd — Sun, 30 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0000

South Africa struggles with low secondary-school completion rates and this has a negative effect on poverty and inequality. In this study, we examine the relationship between internal migration (international migrants were excluded) and non-migrant educational outcomes (secondary-school enrollment and completion rates) in South Africa between 1996 and 2011. We use census data for 1996, 2001, and 2011 (at district and municipal levels) in several linear probability regression models that include the First Difference (FD) and System Generalised Method of Moments (GMM-SYS) with instrumental variables. We find that internal migrants have a positive effect on both the enrollment and completion rates of non-migrants. These results vary in intensity depending on the level of education of both internal migrant and non-migrant household heads. These results have implications for the local labor market and for income inequality in South Africa; internal migrants provide positive peer effects that contribute to raising non-migrant school enrollment and completion. Internal migrants also provide job-market competition, which can influence non-migrants' decisions to complete secondary schooling. While prior research has tended to focus on the relationship between immigration and education outcomes in the developed world, there is scant empirical evidence on the impact of internal migration on education outcomes in African countries. Our paper provides evidence from a country with a history of persistent internal migration. We recommend that improvement of the quality of basic education – in both rural and urban areas – be a high priority of the South African government, as well as increased financial access to tertiary institutions.

Citizen and Pariah

Daniel Tevera — Mon, 22 Aug 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Citizen and Pariah is the title of a book by Vanya Gastrow that is based on her doctoral and postdoctoral research. In the preface Gastrow informs the reader that “the book investigates violent crime affecting Somali shopkeepers, their ability to access informal and formal justice mechanisms, and efforts to regulate their economic activities”.

Statelessness in Protracted Refugee Situations: Former Angolan and Rwandan Refugees in Zambia

Mazuba Muchindu — Fri, 27 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Among migrant populations, refugees form one group that is at high risk of becoming stateless. As those responsible for their wellbeing seek to find durable solutions to their plight, identity documents play a critical role. Without proper identity documents, former refugees are at risk of becoming stateless and face many difficulties in accessing various livelihood opportunities including employment, and services such as health care and education. However, acquiring these documents is sometimes wrought with many challenges including administrative, financial and legal challenges. Legal challenges largely arise from the lack of a comprehensive and coordinated approach of how to deal with such cases especially in states that operate outside the UN Conventions on statelessness. Using case studies of former Angolan and Rwandan refugees in Zambia, I argue that in the absence of a clear guiding framework as provided under the UN Conventions provide, former refugees are at risk of becoming stateless even when they are hosted under very hospitable conditions.

Statelessness, Development, and Protection of ‘Disadvantaged Groups’: Bridging the Post-2030 Sustainable Development Gaps

Adeyemi Saheed Badewa — Fri, 27 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Statelessness constricts development opportunities, human capital and potentials of affected communities and persons over successive generations. The marginalisation of stateless persons, deprivation of their basic rights, legal recognition and access to essential services further induce their vulnerability and the risk of intergenerational statelessness. However, the nexus between statelessness and development remains poorly investigated amid the lack of coherent measures to address it. Hence, the need to understand the increased deprivations by statelessness and its conditions of vulnerability, suspicion, and exclusion, and the mismatch in the implementation of multilateral development programmes and national policies against statelessness. The paper maintains that neglect of stateless persons and communities by development actors and processes often lags them in global, regional, or national development. Although not explicitly encapsulated to address statelessness, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) unlock significant opportunities, with relevance and applicability of several goals in this regard. Therefore, incorporating statelessness into the post-2030 development agenda is critical for addressing its challenges, and improving human security and conditions of stateless persons.