Forced migration is the involuntary movement of people away from their home, often because of armed conflict.
“I was born in September 1964, in the month the war started,” Lalia tells me. “We fled more than 1300 kilometres from our hometown in Mozambique to South Africa, in 1976. “We came from Dondo, in the Sofala Province. Dad, Mom, my sister and I.”
ARRIVING IN SOUTH AFRICA
The Portuguese family arrived in South Africa with nothing but their car and the clothes on their backs. The South African government gave them political asylum as refugees from Mozambique.
“You did the chicken run, you scum of the sea, and now you want to crawl into our country,” the Afrikaans children in our new school taunted us. “Intermarrying with the Mozambicans, you got what you deserved.”
From the outset they were bullied and harassed in a language that they couldn’t even speak yet.
MOZAMBICAN WAR OF INDEPENDENCE
The Mozambican War of Independence was an armed conflict between the guerrilla forces of FRELIMO (Frente de Libertação de Moçambique), and Portugal. The war officially started on September 25, 1964, and ended with a ceasefire on September 8, 1974, resulting in a negotiated independence in 1975.
“At first, life was good and kind in Mozambique. But we were caught up in the war in a time of transition. I remember how FRELIMO searched from house to house, removing everyone’s weapons. Every single weapon, even knives, were taken. We thought it went for the whole population – but in the end it was only us Portuguese who had to give up our weapons.
“Then the brutality started. A farmer was shot from his tractor on a farm. People walked into houses in Maputo and just took over the house. Most Portuguese, if lucky enough, could flee in their cars.
“The Mozambican radio presenter, who made alarm on the radio when the widespread brutality started – they took out her eyes and buried her alive – all because she was a mensch and had empathy with the Portuguese inhabitants.”
ENTRENCHED FOR GENERATIONS
“Many Portuguese colonials were not typical settlers in Mozambique. While most European communities in Africa at the time – with the possible exception of Afrikaners- were established from the late nineteenth to early twentieth centuries, some white families and institutions in those territories still administered by Portugal had been entrenched for generations. Loss of their privileged status and fears of FRELIMO reprisal resulted in an exodus of up to 200,000 white civilians at independence (in Europe they were popularly known as ‘retornados’)”
LALIA’S VIEW ON XENOPHOBIA
Today Lalia is a journalist and speaks three languages fluently. She has a university degree and is a respected and taxpaying member of South African society. She tries to make a difference in her way, on her terrain.
“And I just cannot understand the renewed onslaught of xenophobia. Migration, immigration and forced migration have been with us forever. And it will forever happen.
“It is hard to flee your country and I have felt the abuse of power, because of being an immigrant, against my own skin.
“Today I have many Afrikaans friends. But I will never forget that it was those same Afrikaners who acted in such a callous and brutal manner against me and my family during the seventies in South Africa.”
If you have a story you want to tell, contact me. As an author coach, I am able to support you with your journey.