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Refugee Amendment Bill “restricts and excludes” says attorney William Kerfoot,Panelists call for better implementation by Home Affairs

Source: Groundup, 21/04/2017

The proposed changes to the Refugees Amendment Bill restricts and
excludes those seeking to work and study according to William Kerfoot
an attorney at the Legal Resource Centre.
Kerfoot was speaking at a panel discussion in Cape Town on Thursday on
section B12-2016 of the Bill and what its implementation would mean
for asylum seekers and foreign nationals in South Africa. The event
was chaired by the Enhanced Civic Understanding and Engagement Project
and sponsored by the European Union.
The new proposed amendments to the Bill were tabled in Parliament in
September 2016 and was opened for public comment. The Bill seeks to
implement amendments to the Refugees Act of 1998.
Kerfoot said that the proposed amendments to the Bill included
widespread exclusions of those seeking refugee status based on
criminal records in their home countries.
Panelists highlighted problematic subcategories which they say will
have an effect on children’s basic education, the problematic
definition of a dependent according to the Bill. They also said the
amendment requiring asylum seekers to apply for status within five
days of arrival in the country “places unreasonable burden” on people
who may not have the funds to reach an asylum centre in that period.
“If refugee status determination officers were properly trained, there
would not be all the problems with backlogging. These officers have
the power of life and death over asylum seekers,” said Kerfoot.
He said this policy will create situations in which those waiting to
receive refugee or asylum status would be unable to work, study, or
send their children to school because school officials “are often
afraid of being fined for enrolling undocumented children.”
Popo Mfubu from the UCT Refugee Rights Clinic said that the Refugees
Act in its current form was a progressive and liberal piece of
legislation, but that its implementation was challenging.
“It has broadened the scope of people who can automatically be
excluded from refugee or asylum status,” he said.
In Cape Town, asylum seekers often wait all night for their asylum
permits to be renewed without success.
“There is an ongoing lack of capacity in the Department of Home
Affairs,” said Bea Abrahams, ECEU Project Coordinator of the Cape Town
Refugee Centre and facilitator of the discussion.
Panelists also noted concerns around management at Home Affairs
offices saying “finance and administrative convenience” often trumped
human rights.
Participants also discussed plans to submit their to the National
Assembly in Parliament.

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