FMSP Report on Human Smuggling across the South Africa/Zimbabwe Border

Widespread xenophobic attacks on foreigners in South Africa in May 2008 generated new debates around the issue of border control. This new report by the Forced Migration Studies Programme at the University of the Witwatersrand refines this discussion by examining the inner workings and practices of the smuggling industry on the South Africa-Zimbabwe border.

There have been many calls for additional deterrence, surveillance and policing of the South African border. However, until now, a lack of credible research and a proliferation of anecdotal evidence has provided at best a slippery footing for policy debates on the subject. As a result, policy proposals have oversimplified the causes of human mobility and overlooked the potentially grave consequences of increased investment in border controls.