Abdual Yousef, FCLC 2024

MAJOR: Anthropology & Philosophy

BIO: Abdo Yousef is a Palestinian student raised in Brooklyn, New York interested in studying apartheid and its impacts on a society. Joining philosophical research with anthropological works, Abdo aspires to engage in the ideological theories which form under oppression and their inspirations. Abdo plans to continue to research South Africa and Palestine.

PROJECT TITLE: How Refugees, Asylum-Seekers, and Other Migrants Cope with Perceived Xenophobia in Johannesburg Educational Environments.

MENTOR: Ronald Nerio, Department of Sociology

ABSTRACT: Johannesburg, historically, has and continues to operate as a hub of opportunity for migrants across the world. Following the collapse of apartheid South Africa, Johannesburg attracted refugees, asylum seekers, and other types of migrants all across Africa. Effectively transforming into an asylum city for African migrants, they arrived en masse expecting economic relief and a higher quality of life. Yet, those searching for opportunity in Johannesburg find little in the realm of financial improvement. Instead, migrants report encountering xenophobia, uncooperative governments, and no hope for change. Xenophobia remains an influential and permeating force within post-apartheid South Africa. My research in South Africa attempted to concretize xenophobia in Johannesburg and explored the following questions: How do migrants to South Africa perceive xenophobia? In what aspects of life do they encounter xenophobia? How do they cope with xenophobia? Through collaboration with the Three2Six program, a Marist organization dedicated to providing education to migrant students, this project asked the following research question: How does xenophobia shape asylum seekers' access to education, and how do institutions like Three2Six help with the problem of xenophobia in the educational context? With data gathered through participant observation as a violin teacher for the Three2Six program, interviews with staff, students, and migrants in Johannesburg, and relevant literature, this research explored important themes surrounding inequality, economic and political vulnerability, and a South African community which still struggles with the residue of apartheid.