Refugees, as forced migrants, have suffered displacement under conditions not of their own choosing, rather from a lack of choice, finding themselves in new settings, new places and new hardships. When refugees abandon their own home, community and country, they do so because there is a probability of losing all rights and face being murdered, tortured, raped, imprisoned, enslaved, robbed or starved. This thesis investigates the lives of refugees in Pietermaritzburg. More specifically, the thesis examines why and how refugees come to Pietermaritzburg, how refugees are treated (by locals to public officials), the hardships that refugees face, and their livelihood options. The main method used was the life story approach, whereby the refugees wrote their own life story, providing detailed information and an in-depth understanding of their hard and often tragic experiences. After entry into South Africa various hardships are experienced. A major difficulty is the application process, whereby South Africa has failed to adequately manage the flow of asylum seekers into the country and is faced with a serious backlog of refugee claims. In KwaZulu-Natal alone 35 137 applications were received at the Durban Refugee Reception Office with 27 539 of those pending. Refugees in South Africa are perceived by the public as criminals, „job stealers‟ and are often used as a scapegoat for the country‟s social problems. This thesis presents a framework to better understand the problems experienced by refugees, as well as some policy recommendations to remedy the situation. It provides a detailed account of the stories of refugees in Pietermaritzburg and the lack of assistance offered to a growing population of concern. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2008.

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2007.

Refugees abound the world over due to various factors, such as human rights violations, wars, ethnicity-related problems, political instability and so on. In South Africa, refugees have a high rate of unemployment and no one knows what they are going through. Unemployed refugee women suffer more than men and bear the burden of unemployment. South Africa is a developing country and many of its citizens are unemployed, thus refugees are not protected by refugee laws that exist in other countries. This study aims to explore the life experiences of unemployed professional refugee women from Rwanda who live in the Durban inner city. Moreover, the research objectives also encompass discovering contributing factors behind their unemployment, as perceived by professional refugee women from Rwanda, and to explore their livelihood and coping strategies in their quest to earn a living. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

Public opinion, media and literature describe refugees as generally suffering, traumatised, dependent, helpless victims without power, in need of constant guidance and support in order to find solutions to their predicament. Humanitarian assistance may be accused of perpetuating this dependency and disempowerment. To me this may be true of refugees in encampment. The perception portrayed in the various media is unfitting and a sharp contrast to the perceptions and experiences of refugees learners encountered in this study. I questioned for myself the potential image of refugee learners being powerless and helpless and felt that if all refugees shared that view outlined above, it would worsen their situation instead of empowering their aspirations, history and capacities. So I chose to ask the refugee learners. This led to the purpose and core area of consideration of this study entitled "Perceptions and experiences of integration for refugee learners." In this study I focused on refugee learners from African countries Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Kenya. It offers them a voice and makes them actors in their own stories. My study is intended to inform the reader of the personal experiences of refugees within a South African context shedding light on the specifics of access to and support from social services and other institutional and informal actors. It was necessary to employ multiple research instruments to analyse the experiences of refugees who attend the site where I am currently based as an educator. Preliminary questionnaires completed by refugee learners revealed themes integral to their experience and perception of integration: living arrangements, social resources, and education. These themes were further explored one-on-one interviews, focus group discussion and a snap survey. It is my view that institutional resources already in place by stakeholders are not fully utilised as refugee learners are often an after-thought in the service provision for citizen children. Refugee learners encounter difficulties in accessing education facilities and living arrangements do not consistently meet protection requirements. As a result, refugee learners frequently experience isolation and confusion regarding their present and future stakes in South Africa. Based on these findings, this study will make recommendations for policy design and development of programme for refugee integration within the broader South African society. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2006.

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sci.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2000.

Worldwide the experiences of refugees on place and their integration into host countries are understood differently. This study seeks to understand how asylum seekers and refugees found a place and settled in South Africa cities. The study focuses on asylum seekers and refugees, not on economic immigrants. By using a qualitative case study approach, the research has been able to explore how Great Lakes region refugees, living in the eThekwini Metropolitan Area, negotiate their place in the city and to what extent they are and they can be integrated into the eThekwini municipal IDP (Integrated Development Planning). The study explores their life experiences of place, social exclusion, social networks and views on their integration. Refugees and key stakeholders in Durban Metropolitan were interviewed and conclusions are drawn from their responses and the literature consulted. The eThekwini Metropolitan inner-city area was chosen as the focus of the research because the majority of Great Lake region refugees are living and working in this area (personal life experience - the researcher, 2010). Nineteen refugees (including three community leaders), and ten stakeholders were chosen and interviewed by using purposive and snowball sampling methods. Interviews were conducted by using in-depth interviews while data was analyzed using the interpretative-descriptive research approach. A multicultural theory is used as the main approach to understand and to guide this study. Therefore some of the findings emanating from this study will add to the understanding of how to deal with the complexity of our urban spaces and provide challenges and opportunities which planning needs to understand and engage within the response of refugee communities in South African cities. This includes installation of refugee reception centres at the point of entry, refugees' integration of municipal policies, and efficient implementation of the existing South African refugee policies. / Thesis (M.T.R.P.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2011.

This study is about refugee women from the Great Lakes Region, who are living in Pietermaritzburg and face many challenges that contribute to their vulnerability to HIV and AIDS. These include the challenges of language barriers, lack of communication, gender based violence, and other socio-economic problems. This dissertation seeks to investigate critically some of the gender-based challenges that the refugee women from Great Lakes Region face in Pietermaritzburg which can make them vulnerable to HIV and AIDS. Though there is much literature written on the challenges of women refugees in Africa, there is not much written on the challenges of refugee women who live in cities. This study was involved to eight women and two male church leaders of the French-Swahili church in Pietermaritzburg where these refugee women fellowship. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2007.

The main purpose of the study described in this report was to better understand the lived experiences of refugees from Burundi and Rwanda living in the inner city of Durban and facing xenophobia. This study was motivated by available research evidence that xenophobia is a widespread phenomenon, together with the researcher’s own experience of living as a refugee in South Africa. The investigation was guided by ‘structural social work theory’ and used a qualitative descriptive approach. The sample of the study, purposively selected using snowball sampling technique, consisted of ten adult refugees from Burundi and Rwanda who had been granted refugee status in South Africa. As a data collection tool, semi-structured interviews were conducted with the participants. To ensure trustworthiness, criteria of credibility, dependability, confirmability and transferability were taken in account. The study revealed that all the participants have fled their respective countries due to ethnic conflicts and on-going civil wars. Traumatised by the experience that had led to their flight, all ten participants were found to have been re-traumatised further along the flight, and symptoms of post-traumatic stress syndrome were common. It was possible to demonstrate that this background experience undermined participants’ ability to cope with xenophobia. Xenophobia was found to feature in the form of both interpersonal and structural violence, the latter consisting of both social and economic marginalisation and exclusion. According to the research participants, the prevailing xenophobia in South Africa can be attributed to a number of interconnected factors including: the impact of South Africa’s apartheid history on attitudes of South Africans towards black foreigners, coupled with a general lack of knowledge about who are refugees; high levels of violence coupled with an apparent social acceptability of crime; as well as the negative statements of the media about foreigners in general and refugees in particular. Against this background, participants indicated a range of coping strategies, including the following: escape from identity; psychological and social withdrawal; living in overcrowded inner city areas to cut costs of living and minimise risks of exposure to xenophobic violence; embracing self and informal employment. Based on the study findings, this research report concludes with the proposition of a number of recommendations towards curbing xenophobia in South Africa and enabling refugees to overcome past traumatic experiences, integrate and become active contributors to South Africa’s economy, in line with the qualifications that they may have attained prior to flight. To this end, contributions are required of everyone concerned with the refugees’ integration including the South African government, the media, the social work profession, the refugees themselves, as well as the communities amongst which they live. Much more research needs to be done to increase social workers’ understanding of the needs of refugees and of xenophobia, and to guide appropriate professional responses. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2013.

This thesis focuses on the challenges posed by the refugees from the Great Lakes Region to the ministry of the Anglican Cathedral of the Holy Nativity in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. It intends to inform the Christian world in general and specifically the Anglican Cathedral of the Holy Nativity of the current refugee situation and its causes. Furthermore, this study shows that understanding the refugees' livelihood strategies is a prerequisite to improved interventions. Using the Sustainable Livelihood Framework, this study describes some of the positive and negative outcomes from the mechanisms and strategies developed by refugees in order to stabilize and enhance their situation. Looking at the livelihood challenges faced by the Great Lakes Region refugees, this study shows how UNHCR (United Nations High Commission for Refugees) has been in a weak position to challenge the policies of its funders and host governments even when those policies fail to respond adequately to refugee problems. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2007.