Figures bust the myth that migration hits only SA

LOCALS tend to think that South Africa is the only country having an influx of foreigners, but figures show that migration is a common feature in Africa.

In 2014, a report by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees showed that South Africa had more than a million refugees, while the International Organisation for Migration IOM) said East Africa, including the Horn of Africa, was home to more than nine million refugees and internally displaced persons.

Kenya and Ethiopia are ranked the second- and third-leading host countries in the world for refugees based on the size of their economies.

Kenya is home to 600 000 refugees, most of whom come from Somalia.

“Mixed migration flows, which include refugees, asylum seekers, displaced persons and migrants pursuing family reunification, education or employment, put a strain on governments in the region as they struggle to cope with the large number of migrants crossing their borders and moving through their countries,” the IOM said.

The situation is compounded by “porous borders, inadequately trained and poorly equipped staff [and] insufficient regional technical cooperation”, it added.

Figures detailing how many migrants are in South Africa differ depending on the source.

Census 1996 showed that there were 958 188 people living in South Africa who were not born in the country.

This figure increased to 1.03 million and then 2.1 million when the 2001 and 2011 censuses were held.

Stats SA’s Community Survey 2016 showed that “South Africa’s foreignborn population has now declined to 1.6 million”.

However, that is contradicted by the UN’s Department of Economic and Social Affairs, which estimates that, by 2015, 3.14 million “international migrants” were living in South Africa, including 600 000 asylum seekers.

According to the International Centre for Migration Policy Development, an agency based in Vienna, Austria: “In absolute terms, Ivory Coast has the highest number of immigrants with 2 406 700, among which 2 350 024 originate from other Economic Community of West Africa countries, followed by Ghana with 1 851 800 migrants.”

Nigeria has the third-largest immigration population in the region.