OP-ED: Hypocrisy in the time of Covid-19

April 28, 2020January 13, 2021Leave a comment

Whether the apparent lack of consideration of foreign migrants is a result of their continued exclusion in public health planning, or due to the initial cases of Covid-19 identified in South Africa being imported from outside of the African continent, is irrelevant. Perhaps the tables have turned and recognition of the ways in which international tourist travel can be associated with the spread of infectious diseases has been brought to light, challenging and perhaps even silencing, at least for now, the pervasive blaming of foreign migrants for the health challenges faced in South Africa.

OP-ED: Border walls don’t stop viruses. But this might

April 28, 2020January 13, 2021Leave a comment

An effective response to South Africa’s coronavirus outbreak is an inclusive response. This keeps migrants safe and it keeps everyone in South Africa healthy. It reduces the need for people to cross the border through irregular routes that may not only be dangerous but do not have the healthcare workers needed to screen people for the new virus. Effective management of this public health crisis will involve all of us. This would truly be a case of, what Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi recently called, “international solidarity”.

OP-ED: Why xenophobia is bad for the health of all in South Africa

April 28, 2020Leave a comment

To successfully address COVID-19, our public health programming must engage with everyone in South Africa, including refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants from elsewhere on the continent and beyond. We must use inclusive language in our messaging, and avoid the tendency of the state to refer to South African “citizens”—rather than to “all in South Africa”—in their COVID-19 communication. We must work collectively and without discrimination if we are to have any chance of slowing down the virus’s spread. This isn’t negotiable: it is a must in the context of COVID-19 if we are to support, as best we can, our already struggling public healthcare system (which, by the way, is not struggling due to the presence of foreign migrants in the country, in spite of popular opinion to the contrary).

Cape Town Refugee Crisis: Channel Africa

March 5, 2020February 15, 2021Leave a comment

5th March 2020 - Channel Africa, radio programme Following a Court order to vacate the church and the central business district they have been occupying over the last four months, the foreigners then moved on to occupy a police station and the surroundings of this law enforcement facility. The government and several NGO’S have been … Continue reading Cape Town Refugee Crisis: Channel Africa

Stop spreading dangerous lies. Foreign migrants are not root cause of SA’s problems

December 13, 2019December 13, 2019Leave a comment

Stop spreading dangerous lies. Foreign migrants are not root cause of SA’s problems Jo Vearey and Gina Snyman 2019-09-24 Originally published in City Press Foreign nationals protesting outside the Johannesburg Magistrates’ Court after fellow migrants were arrested due to lack of documentation. Picture: Sandile Ndlovu No matter how inconvenient it may be for the … Continue reading Stop spreading dangerous lies. Foreign migrants are not root cause of SA’s problems

In sickness and in health: why the Minister of Home Affairs has a duty of care to tackle endemic anti-foreigner sentiment

December 13, 2019Leave a comment

In sickness and in health: why the Minister of Home Affairs has a duty of care to tackle endemic anti-foreigner sentiment By Jo Vearey and Rebecca Walker• 26 September 2019 Originally published on Daily Maverick Minister of Home Affairs Aaron Motsoaledi is spreading the disease of xenophobia through his own unsubstantiated public comments directly blaming foreign … Continue reading In sickness and in health: why the Minister of Home Affairs has a duty of care to tackle endemic anti-foreigner sentiment

World Migration Report – Migration & Health: current issues, governance and current knowledge gaps

December 13, 2019Leave a comment

Vearey, J., Hui, C. and Wickramage, K. (2019) Chapter 7: Migration and Health: current issues, governance, and current knowledge gaps in: McAuliff M. and Khadria, B. (eds) World Migration Report. International Organization for Migration: Geneva [OPEN ACCESS] There is a dynamic and complex relationship between migration and health. Migration can lead to greater exposure to health risks, … Continue reading World Migration Report – Migration & Health: current issues, governance and current knowledge gaps

Migration in Africa: Channel Africa (SABC)

December 13, 2019December 13, 2019Leave a comment

Migration in Africa CHANNEL AFRICA | AFRICAN DIALOGUE https://embed.iono.fm/epi/790510 Only twenty-percent of migrants actually leave the African continent, according to the African Union. More people move from the Horn of Africa to southern Africa than those crossing the Sahara to north Africa to reach Europe. There is even more movement within West Africa, a region that historically … Continue reading Migration in Africa: Channel Africa (SABC)

Southern Africa needs better health care for women and girls on the move

September 17, 2019December 13, 2019

Rebecca Walker and I report on recent research undertaken in partnership with Sonke Gender Justice exploring gender, health and migration in Southern Africa.

Just Research? (Un)Seeing Politics in a Complex World

September 17, 2019December 13, 2019Leave a comment

Some reflections on Sophie Harman’s excellent new book – Seeing Politics.

The Disorder Of Things

The third post in our symposium on Sophie Harman’s Seeing Politics, from Jo Vearey. Jo is an Associate Professor and Director of the African Centre for Migration & Society, University of the Witwatersrand, where she is involved in designing and coordinating research programmes, teaching, and supervising graduate students. Jo is involved in multiple international partnership, is Vice-Chair of the global Migration, Health, and Development Research Initiative (MHADRI), and is an Honorary Researcher at the School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Edinburgh. Jo is a South African National Research Foundation rated researcher and, supported by a Wellcome Trust Investigator Award, established the Migration and Health Project Southern Africa (maHp). With a commitment to social justice, Jo’s research explores ways to generate and communicate knowledge to improve responses to migration, health and wellbeing in the southern African region. Fundamental to her research practice is Jo’s participation…

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Disrupting mainstream narratives

April 28, 2019Leave a comment

Engendering research & reframing policy & public debate on migration and health in South/South East Asia - Kathmandu, Nepal, in April 2019.

migration.health.research.

reflections on research and knowledge production