SA Migration International

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Red tape costing us

Source: Business Day, 01/07/2015

The problem with getting a visa to visit SA in China is that, from
some areas, to go in person to either Shanghai or Beijing involves a
two-or three-hour flight, which is hugely inconvenient. How does this
requirement to make people go in person for their visas help eliminate
child trafficking, which is the reason the Department of Home Affairs
spokesman gave for the regulations?
Whether visas are obtained in person or through agents, the identity
of the people having the visas must still be checked when they enter SA.
I presume that most child trafficking is from neighbouring countries,
not from China or India. A lot of it is with the false promise of jobs
in SA, and is with the permission of the parents, who believe their
children are going to a better future. The new regulations will do
nothing to stop this.
Even with the new regulations, if someone wants to traffic a child, it
is still possible because anyone can get the full birth certificate of
anyone else without their or their parents` permission and affidavits
are easily forged without proper checks being made.
At a time of austerity, we cannot afford to let bureaucratic
regulations cost the country billions of rand.
R Jeremy Gordon

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