First Week in Durban

I woke up on a Tuesday morning eager to begin work, yet unsure of exactly how I would get there. I walked to Devenport Square, a very small shopping center 10 minutes away from my place, where I indulged in a delicious English breakfast—2 sausages, scrambled eggs, a round-shaped hash brown, baked beans, and a perfectly cooked tomato. And all for 30 Rands, which is about 5 USD! I could get used to this every morning. By now, it was 8:30 AM. I began asking passerbys which bus to take to get to the city. Fortunately, I met a white South African man and his wife who generously offered to give me a ride since they were headed in my direction. I know, this sounds rather sketchy, but I tend to think I have somewhat good judgement and instincts (my brothers however, would laugh at my naiveté).

The conversation during the car ride began with a stark warning of safety. They shared examples of friends, who within the span of two weeks, were mugged while driving and of a news story of a family that was drenched in petroleum and forced to collect all jewelry and valuable possessions if they were to remain alive. Perhaps because I'm a foreigner, but everyone I talk to warns me not to venture out at nights. The conversation soon-after shifted to South Africa politics—a topic that many South Africans seem to broach with passion and gravity. “We have very high rates of crime in this country, and to compound that the major issues of HIV/AIDS ... people need to start changing their habits. And the government is not doing much to prevent it,” he said. I listened intently and with great curiosity. I wanted to ask more questions — about their background, about life in South Africa prior to and post-apartheid — but we hit the intersection of Broad and St Andrews so quickly, that I hopped out of the car, thanked them for their incredible hospitality, and rushed across the street to the Diakonia Center where my office was.

I was shocked.

I entered the office to see a room crowded with refugees waiting to be serviced. Recently in the last month, South Africa has seen a spate of xenophobic violence that started in Johannesburg and quickly spread to Cape Town and now Durban. Black South Africans were committing acts of violence against foreigners from Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Congo and other African countries, citing foreign immigrants as further exacerbating an already unstable economy, taking away low-paying jobs and housing. The perpetrators have responded in powerful acts of violence. South African Nobel Prize-winner Desmond Tutu, in a recent speech, compared the impulse behind South Africa’s recent xenophobic attacks to that which led to the Holocaust. This, unfortunately, is a grim and frightening comparison.

Since the attacks began on May 11, thousands of refugees have fled their homes, many living in refugee camps constructed by the U.N., and many desperate to return to their home countries to escape the violence. Our office, an implementing partner of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), provides legal assistance to refugees and migrants in South Africa, most recently focusing on assisting with voluntary repatriation and resettlement of refugees and asylum seekers as a result of the xenophobic attacks. We have been busy with conducting Refugee Status Determination interviews, after which we provide recommendations to the UNHCR on whether the applicants are refugees as defined by South African law and International Conventions. Within a couple days, I found myself assisting refugees with access to the asylum seeker application process, appeals and reviews of rejected asylum claims, and follow ups on Refugee Identity documents. Unfortunately, these processes can take as long as 2 to 3 years. But in a time-crisis such as now, can they afford to wait that long?

Lawyers for Human Rights, nestled within a building with various other NGOs working on human rights issues, is a dynamic office. I have always appreciated and valued diversity, which is particularly salient within the Bay Area in California—with its brilliant mix of cultures from all corners of the world; I like this about Harvard as well, with students from across the U.S. and internationally. My office is comprised of two other American interns (both law students from Washington University),

a South African intern (who is ethnically Indian), an assistant who worked as a attorney in Congo and now helps around the office, and two South African attorneys (one Indian, and the other, Black)—all have been extremely welcoming and friendly. This has been a exciting start to the summer, and I am anxious for the weeks to come.