Lobbyists call for speedy processing of refugees in SA
The Consortium for Refugees and Migrants in South Africa says according to the United Nations, some refugees wait up to eight years for their cases to be processed.
FILE: One part of a group of about 630 people, refugees originally from Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, and Bangladesh, and other countries who are sleeping in a large tent in Bellville, Cape Town, on 22 September 2020. Picture: RODGER BOSCH/AFP
CAPE TOWN - Refugee lobby groups have highlighted the challenges refugees face when seeking safety in other countries.
Marking World Refugee Day on Friday, these groups say migrants often go through lengthy processes to obtain a permit to stay in the country.
The Consortium for Refugees and Migrants in South Africa (CoRMSA) believes collaboration between government departments will ensure refugees are assisted speedily.
The executive director for CoRMSA, Thifulufheli Sinthumule, said, “The refugee ACT of South Africa, it requires that if you have got a strong claim that you are fearing persecution from your home country you are able to enter the Republic of South Africa, and you are required to report to the nearest refugee reception centres across the country and we have only five refugee reception centre which is in Musina, PE, Durban and Western Cape and Pretoria.”
Sinthumule said that according to the United Nations, some refugees wait up to eight years for their cases to be processed.
“As a refugee, you need to be fearing persecution from your home country in a sense that you belong to a particular political party that doesn't share the views of the ruling party, or you belong to a particular social group, like religion, that is not wanted by other particular social groups.”
He added that asylum seekers and refugees encountered numerous systemic and social obstacles.
“They also face on a social level the issue of discrimination and xenophobic attacks from the local communities, especially from the anti-migrant social movement like your Operation Dudula, your Patriotic Alliance and other allied organisations who have strong positions on anti-migration.”
At the moment, noted Sinthumule, there are more than 150,000 appeals for refugee status pending..
“The Home Affairs needs to investigate your allegations or your claim to see if the reasons for you being in South Africa qualifies you to be a refugee. If your reasons deem [you] qualifying, you will then be adjudicated and be granted and given or issued with a Section 24 permit.”