'Most migrants are lovely, hardworking people... NOT criminals' – Labour Law lecturer
Undocumented migrants are often used as scapegoats for problems in our country.
Refugees do their laundry at the camp site in Belville, Cape Town. Picture: Kayleen Morgan/EWN
CapeTalk’s Clarence Ford speaks with lecturer at the Department of Mercantile and Labour Law at UWC, Dr Kim-Leigh Loedolf.
Listen below:
Many South Africans have a belief that the country is swamped by illegal immigrants.
This belief is often accompanied with negative perceptions, namely that these migrants are ‘criminals’ and are ‘stealing’ jobs and resources.
However, Loedolf says this is far from the truth.
Firstly, she says most undocumented migrants have come into South Africa out of desperation, while fleeing war or violence.
She adds that there are no official statistics supporting the narrative that undocumented migrants are criminals, and less than 10% of those currently in prison in South Africa are migrants.
“Most of the time migrants in general are just lovely, hardworking people. Most of them are in the country because circumstances have forced them to be here.”
- Dr Kim-Leigh Loedolf, Lecturer - Department of Mercantile and Labour Law, UWC
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There is also a narrative that there is migration crisis.
However, Loedolf says in reality, migrants - both documented and undocumented - are a tiny section of our population.
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