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In recent years, South Africa’s handling of asylum seekers has become a focal point in discussions about refugee rights and the systemic challenges individuals face in the immigration process. Once celebrated for its progressive post-apartheid policies, the nation now grapples with criticism due to recurring xenophobic violence and the failures of its asylum system. These issues highlight the urgent need to address how bureaucratic processes can either protect or jeopardise the rights and dignity of those seeking refuge.
Navigating Asylum delves into these pressing issues by examining the nuanced narratives shared by asylum seekers, interpreters, and refugee status determination officers (RSDOs). This timely volume goes beyond existing literature by focusing on the intricate interactions during asylum interviews, arguing that these moments are critical in shaping the outcomes of asylum applications. By exploring the intersections of linguistic nuances, bureaucratic authority, and individual vulnerability, this work sheds light on the structural violence embedded in the asylum process. Angu offers a unique lens by investigating how language ideologies and rights impact the legitimacy of asylum claims and how these factors intertwine with the precarious lives of asylum seekers in South Africa.
Providing indispensable insights for scholars, policymakers, and advocates, Navigating Asylum is essential reading for anyone dedicated to understanding and reforming refugee systems. Through its critical analysis, the work aims to foster greater empathy and accountability, ultimately striving toward a more equitable system for those in desperate need of protection.
Pineteh Angu is an Associate Professor in the Unit for Academic Literacy at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. His broad research interests include academic and professional literacies; curriculum transformation/decolonisation; trends/patterns of contemporary transnational migration; migration, xenophobia/Afrophobia and the politics of belonging in South Africa as well as general migrant narratives.
Introduction: Bureaucratic Power, Precarity and Vulnerability in the Asylum Process
Chapter 1. Historicising Transnational Refugee Mobility into South Africa
Chapter 2. Asylum Narratives: Navigating Intersections Between Language and the Law in Asylum Processes in South Africa
Chapter 3. Becoming a Refugee in South Africa: Memories, Moments, Processes and Key role-players in the Asylum System
Chapter 4. The Question of Credibility, Accuracy and Relevance in Oral Narratives Told During Asylum Interviews
Chapter 5. Issues of Trust, Distrust and Confidentiality During Asylum Interviews
Chapter 6. Living in a State of Waithood and Stuckness in the South African Asylum System
Conclusion: The Limits of Bureaucracies and Bureaucratic Power to Control and Eliminate African Refugees and Asylum Seekers in South Africa