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THE SOCIAL DYNAMICS OF UNDOCUMENTED MOZAMBICAN LABOUR MIGRATION TO SOUTH AFRICA

THE SOCIAL DYNAMICS OF UNDOCUMENTED MOZAMBICAN LABOUR MIGRATION TO SOUTH AFRICA. Presentation Workshop on Demography of Lusophone African Countries CEDEPLAR Belo Horizonte, 22 nd to 24 th of May, 2007 By Ramos Cardoso Muanamoha Center for Population Studies Eduardo Mondlane University

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THE SOCIAL DYNAMICS OF UNDOCUMENTED MOZAMBICAN LABOUR MIGRATION TO SOUTH AFRICA

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  1. THE SOCIAL DYNAMICS OF UNDOCUMENTED MOZAMBICAN LABOUR MIGRATION TO SOUTH AFRICA Presentation Workshop on Demography of Lusophone African Countries CEDEPLAR Belo Horizonte, 22nd to 24th of May, 2007 By Ramos Cardoso Muanamoha Center for Population Studies Eduardo Mondlane University Maputo, Mozambique May 2007

  2. OUTLINE OF TOPIC AREA / RESEARCH PROBLEM New contours of Mozambican labour migration to South Africa: • Decrease of contract labour migration (docum.) • Increase of undocumented labour migration • Estimates (SAMP: Migration News, 01/03/2003): • over 75 000 Mozambicans working legally in South Africa • more than 145 000 Mozambicans working illegally only in Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces.

  3. OUTLINE OF TOPIC AREA / RESEARCH PROBLEM(continued) New contours of Mozambican labour migration to South Africa: • Estimates (SAMP, Migration News, July & Nov 2006): • Between 10,000 to 80,000 Mozambican farm workers only in Limpopo province. • 46,256Mozambican mineworkers in SA (46% of mining workforce from SADC countries).

  4. OUTLINE OF TOPIC AREA / RESEARCH PROBLEM(continued) The main concerns in the context of socioeconomic development in Mozambique: • The Agricultural sector: basis of Mozambican economy. • More than three-quarters of the population are rural-based and largely dependent on subsistence agriculture (De Vletter, 2000). • The development of human capital in rural areas constitutes one of the fundamental elements for the reduction of poverty.

  5. OUTLINE OF TOPIC AREA / RESEARCH PROBLEM(continued) The main concerns in the context of socioeconomic development in Mozambique: • Great changes in the structure of Mozambican rural population: composition by age and sex • Estimates (De Vletter, 2000): • 36% of households in southern Mozambique were female-headed (versus 15% in the north) • Findings from this study (2004): • 45% of the current migrants’ households were headed by married women whose husbands were away in SA • Great impact on Mozambican agriculture (mainly in southern region: Gaza, Inhambane and Maputo provinces) – increase of labour shortage.

  6. OUTLINE OF TOPIC AREA / RESEARCH PROBLEM(continued) • Main concerns in South Afica: • Social pressure, migrants seen as taking jobs from locals • Rise of xenophobia (migrants regarded as criminals, responsible for HIV/AIDS spread) • Administrative measures (deportations, strict control of borders) do not stop illegal immigration into SA

  7. LITERATURE ON MOZAMBICAN LABOUR MIGRATION • Two main types of circumstances within which the undocumented labour migration has been taking place: • voluntary decision to migrate because of lack of jobs and of material living conditions at home, and need for money for survival; • forced decision to migrate, because circumstances force people to abandon their habitual places of residence and to move to other places where they can feel free from danger.

  8. TYPOLOGY OF MOZAMBICAN LABOUR MIGRATION TO SOUTH AFRICA AND ITS DETERMINANTS TYPE OF MIGRATION DETERMINANTS OF MIGRATION Contract labour migration (docum.) Mixed voluntary and involuntary migration Mozambican labour migration to SA Lack of domestic employment conditions (in Mozambique) and demand for foreign labour force (in South Africa) Undocumented labour migration Forced migration Deterioration of living conditions as a consequence of natural calamities and civil war (in Mozambique)

  9. LITERATURE ON MOZAMBICAN LABOUR MIGRATION(continued) (e.g. Covane, 2001; Crush, 2000; De Vletter, 2000; Dodson, 2000; Dolan, 1995; Minnar and Hough, 1996; Taylor and Barlow, 2000) • Thought the belief that social networks support and sustain migration by making subsequent entry and stay in South Africa easier, cheaper and less risky (Minnaar & Hough, 1996; McDonald et al., 2000; Crush & Williams, 2001), the literature shows little or nothing about the dynamics of undocumented labour migration. • The knowledge of the mechanisms through which these social processes facilitate, support and sustain the migration, is very limited.

  10. AIM OF THE PRESENTATION To show: • the social dynamics of undocumented labour migration from Mozambique to South Africa and its implications for policy-making decisions; • which social factors and how do they facilitate and sustain the migration, contributing to its persistence and perpetuation over time and space.

  11. KEY RESEARCH QUESTIONS • Why and how has undocumented Mozambican labour migration to South Africa been taking place? • How do the experiences and support offered in South Africa assist and, possibly, sustain the migration process?

  12. RESEARCH HYPOTHESES • Undocumented Mozambican labour migration to South Africa has been difficult to control and is a self-sustaining social process. • Social networks, some concentrated in South Africa, sustain migration over the time by making subsequent entry and stay in South Africa easier, cheaper and less risky.

  13. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK The study drew on the current worldwide debates around the contemporary trends and patterns of international labour migration which have led to new theoretical perspectives, where the emphasis for this presentation is given to the - social capital theory - theory of cumulative causation (Ammassari and Black, 2001; Massey, 1998; Massey et al., 1998; 1993; 1987; Montanari, 2002).

  14. METHODOLOGY Research sites • Magude and Chókwè districts in southern Mozambique • Gauteng and Mpumalanga provinces in South Africa

  15. Research sites

  16. METHODOLOGY (continued) Sources of information Fieldwork (A) Qualitative data in Moz & SA: • In-depth interviews with key informants: (community leaders, administrators, directors of labour, border officers, labour migrant recruiting agency) • Selection of Key informants: based on purposive or judgmental sampling method • Life histories analysis of undocumented labour migrants (35 current and returned migrants)

  17. METHODOLOGY (continued) Sources of information Fieldwork (B) Quantitative data: • Sample survey in Mozambique • in 45 survey areas selected randomly from a list of the national population census enumeration areas compiled by the Mozambican National Institute for Statistics (1997). • survey areas distributed proportionally among the two districts, according to the weight of their population (Magude – 15; Chokwe – 30). • 15 and 20 households (units of observation) were selected randomly in each rural and urban survey area, respectively. • the sample included a total of 745 households in the two districts. • a survey questionnaire was applied to each of the selected households.

  18. METHODOLOGY (continued) Sources of information Fieldwork (B) Quantitative data : The Survey questionnaire was composed of three parts: • Basic social and demographic data collected from all people in the household, and identification of people with prior experience of undocumented labour migration to South Africa (returned migrants); • Data on returned undocumented labour migrants (profile, remittances, labour migration experience); • Information on the socioeconomic status of the household.

  19. DATA ANALYSIS After coding, the survey data were entered onto computer by use of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). Qualitative data were analyzed in terms of the themes of the study.

  20. RESULTS • Sample population: 4645 people (1.5% of the total population of the two districts), enumerated as members of 745 sample households. • The survey identified 107 working-age people who in the course of the reference period (1980-2004) had left undocumented to get job in South Africa.

  21. Forces sustaining support and continuity of undocumented Mozambican labour migration to South Africa SENDING AREAS (MOZAMBIQUE) ON BORDERS DESTINATION AREAS (SOUTH AFRICA) Non-Migrants (family/ relatives and friends) South African citizens, employers, and immigration officers Former Mozambican Immigrants (home communities, family members / relatives, friends, and neighbours) Returned Migrants (family members / relatives, friends, and neighbours) - Border agents - Guides - Conveyors Potential labour Migrants Labour Migrants Newcomer undocumented labour Immigrants Support for Border-crossing + Transportation Moral + Material Support Support for social and economic integration Support given to migrants Decision to migrate Illegal border-crossing Integration in the destination Return migration

  22. SOME FINAL REMARKS • Poverty, primary motivation for leaving home, but decision to migrate encouraged by assistance (social capital) offered throughout the movement and at the destination. • Repeated movements, because of experience and skills acquired in the earlier trips (human capital) + social contacts already established on the borders and at the destination (social capital)  Circular migration. • Labour migration process and emergence of a kind of social division of labour in migrant households. • Gender-differentiated friendship networks.

  23. THANK YOU

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