Drivers of undocumented migration in South Africa

This qualitative data emerged from semi-structured interviews and document analysis conducted with experts and senior public officials in the border securitisation and migration management environment. The selection of participants was based on three relevant categories for managing undocumented migration in South Africa: law enforcement, migration management and human rights. These categories encapsulate the environment which migrants have to go through, from law enforcement at the borderlines and within the country during detentions and deportations to the policies that inform migration management in the country and the human rights of migrants throughout the policy chain. Furthermore, the governance of undocumented migration in South Africa is highly contested and involves various state and non-state actors that fall under the above three categories.
Due to the seniority of the participants' positions, accompanied by the expertise in the field of migration issues, the participants were relevant to save time, produce rich descriptions, and provide varying policy positions of undocumented migration management in South Africa. These research participants have experience and knowledge in the physical infrastructure of borders, the technological advancements that are installed in South African borders, bureaucratic inefficiencies that influence how undocumented migration is managed in the country, the challenges that face undocumented migrants, the institutional arrangements that are in place for arresting, detaining and deporting undocumented migrants, the chronology of migration policies since 1994 and how these policies have performed in order to inform alternative border securitisation policies.

本项定性数据源自对边境安全与移民管理领域专家及高级公共官员进行的半结构化访谈和文献分析。参与者的选择基于南非管理无证移民的三个相关类别：执法、移民管理和人权。这些类别涵盖了移民必须经历的整个环境，从边境及国家内部在拘留和遣返过程中的执法，到影响国家移民管理的政策以及在整个政策链中移民的人权。此外，南非无证移民的治理存在高度争议，涉及上述三个类别下的各种国家和非国家行为者。鉴于参与者职位的资深程度以及在该领域移民问题方面的专业素养，选择这些参与者旨在节省时间、产生丰富的描述，并呈现南非无证移民管理政策的不同立场。这些研究参与者拥有关于边境物理基础设施、南非边境安装的技术进步、影响国家无证移民管理方式的官僚低效、无证移民面临挑战、用于逮捕、拘留和遣返无证移民的现行制度安排、自1994年以来的移民政策沿革及其政策成效等方面的经验和知识，以便为替代边境安全政策提供信息。