parent family that could not provide for them, -living with members of extended family that could not provide for them and working in order to pay school-fees for younger siblings. (Thorn, D: Migration and Unaccompanied Minors in Southern Africa Open Institute for – Southern Africa). Taking Zimbabwe as point of reference a country where most of the – refugee and asylum-seekers in South Africa come from, new arrivals of Zimbabweans in South Africa prevails, in spite of their home country’s temporary political stabilization. These arrivals include children without parents or caregivers. That is, in this thesis the – independent migrant children. The Consortium of Refugees and Migrants in South Africa (CORMSA) claims, should expect to see similar levels of migration for the next two to “we five years. If the government of National Unity in Zimbabwe collapses, even larger volumes of migration could occur” (Ibid, 2009:12). Similarly, Mawadza argues, The relative “ economic prosperity, democratic values, emphasis on regional integration and African renaissance of South Africa, coupled with porous borders, remain, and will remain a pull factor for the near future” (Ibid, 2008:3-4). is therefore a mixture of failed governance; “It food insecurity and manipulation of food for political ends; economic meltdown, including inflation, high unemployment, and large shortages of consumer items, fuel, and foreign currency that are some of the many problems forcing thousands to leave” (Simpson, 2008b). The emphasis here is exemplifying some of the discussed children’s reasons for migrating to South Africa. Thus, illuminating on part of the contextual spheres, within which these children’s agency has been explored, in search for resolutions to the research question. Case- study In 2011 a fieldwork research was conducted by the Centre for Education Rights and Transformation (CERT) in South Africa on Rights amongst Refugees, Asylum “Education Seekers and Undocumented Migrants in South Africa”. Participants comprised of refugees, asylum seekers and non-documented migrants as only five of the participants were Africans. The non- South African participants were Somalian, Ugandan, Congolese, Cameroonian, Rwandan, Zimbabwean and Nigerian. Of the total sample, 11 were learners (pupils) with the remaining 19 being parents. A government department and various civil society organizations were visited as well as Maitland School, where a large number of refugee and asylum-seekers attend (CERT, 2011.
family that could not provide for them, -living with members of extended family that could not provide for them and working in order to pay school-fees for younger siblings. (Thorn, D: Migration and Unaccompanied Minors in Southern Africa – Open Institute for Southern Africa). Taking Zimbabwe as point of reference – a country where most of the refugee and asylum-seekers in South Africa come from, new arrivals of Zimbabweans in South Africa prevails, in spite of their home country’s temporary political stabilization. These arrivals include children without parents or caregivers. That is, in this thesis – the independent migrant children. The Consortium of Refugees and Migrants in South Africa (CORMSA) claims, “we should expect to see similar levels of migration for the next two to five years. If the government of National Unity in Zimbabwe collapses, even larger volumes of migration could occur” (Ibid, 2009:12). Similarly, Mawadza argues, “ The relative economic prosperity, democratic values, emphasis on regional integration and African renaissance of South Africa, coupled with porous borders, remain, and will remain a pull factor for the near future” (Ibid, 2008:3-4). “It is therefore a mixture of failed governance; food insecurity and manipulation of food for political ends; economic meltdown, including inflation, high unemployment, and large shortages of consumer items, fuel, and foreign currency that are some of the many problems forcing thousands to leave” (Simpson, 2008b). The emphasis here is exemplifying some of the discussed children’s reasons for migrating to South Africa. Thus, illuminating on part of the contextual spheres, within which these children’s agency has been explored, in search for resolutions to the research question. Case- study In 2011 a fieldwork research was conducted by the Centre for Education Rights and Transformation (CERT) in South Africa on “Education Rights amongst Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Undocumented Migrants in South Africa”. Participants comprised of refugees, asylum seekers and non-documented migrants as only five of the participants were Africans. The non- South African participants were Somalian, Ugandan, Congolese, Cameroonian, Rwandan, Zimbabwean and Nigerian. Of the total sample, 11 were learners (pupils) with the remaining 19 being parents. A government department and various civil society organizations were visited as well as Maitland School, where a large number of refugee and asylum-seekers attend (CERT, 2011. parent