The human tragedy of child-travel laws in SA

Source: Ferial Haffajee - City Press, 27/07/2015

We were really not trying to traffic my young relatives, whose names
translate from Arabic as Faith and Lion. They were coming home for Eid.
Home is Cape Town, although the children have grown up in Saudi
Arabia, where my cousin, their dad, teaches. Their mum is from Cape
Town and lives in Jeddah.
No sooner had they landed than the children were bundled on to a plane
and deported. No Eid. Floods of tears. They got caught in onerous new
child-travel regulations (meant to combat child trafficking), which
set up a near-impossible list of requirements for children travelling
to or from South Africa.
The effect on tourists and tourism is well documented – the impact on
children who are South African or with South African links is less
well known.
Surely, a law never meant to get children deported before Eid, the
Muslim celebration at the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.
Fact-checking service Africa Check reports that 23 children were
believed to be trafficked in the latest information from the
department of home affairs.
Government has claimed an annual figure of 30 000 children as an
explanation for the draconian new laws.
This is Faith`s story.
I can`t name her as she (still) hopes to come and study in South
Africa because she loves our Constitution and all it stands for
We were coming home for Eid. My brother and I were excited to land in
Johannesburg with my mum and stepdad en route to our family in Cape
Town. But we were stopped because we did not have all the documents
for the new laws. Then it turned into a nightmare.
The one thing I always pray never happens is to see my mother crying.
This happened when officials questioned the legitimacy of her
relationship to my brother in the immigration centre. They were very
angry and refused to look at us.
We live in Jeddah and for years my mother has tried and failed to get
a copy of her birth certificate from home affairs and a passport for
my brother, who was born in Saudi Arabia but is entitled to South
African nationality.
I developed a sick feeling in my stomach from sitting there witnessing
not only us but several families being interrogated and pushed for
documents to prove their family bonds.
The South African embassy in Jeddah, where we had applied for our
visas, didn`t inform us of the changes related to travelling with
children. When we asked why they didn`t tell us of the new travelling
requirements, they insisted they had been emailed.
But if they were, why were so many families flying out of Saudi Arabia
experiencing the same problem? The airline (Saudia) was also informed
of the change and was meant to stop us boarding, but they failed to do
so. An airline representative at OR Tambo airport was very rude to the
families he was supposed to help.
We were asked to send an email of my brother`s birth certificate, and
my father (who was in Jeddah) did that.
At first an officer, Patrick Thileppe, said it would be enough, but he
consulted a supervisor and changed his mind. Only a commissioned
original would do.
Then my stepdad and mum were told we were "required to return to the
country we flew from or be held in a facility similar to a prison".
Sent to prison without trial under false accusations?
It was so strange to be told so easily that we could be sent to
prison, especially when they had earlier told us they could see we
were a family and the whole thing was a minor blip that would be
solved swiftly.
Instead, we were put on the next flight out of South Africa, my
mother`s land and my granny`s land. All the deported children were
crying.
It wasn`t the fact that we were held in a room for documents or being
sent back that was upsetting, although it did contribute greatly to
the feeling. It was the underlying abuse of authority that turned the
situation into a horror story.
There were law-abiding procedures that could have been undertaken, but
we were played with, yelled at and threatened.
The one set of laws I`ve always admired is that of South Africa,
especially the Constitution. I believe it is built on fairness,
equality and freedom. It`s why I want to study law at a university in
South Africa.
However, there was no fairness, equality or sense of justice in that
situation. I understand the child-trafficking law is important, but
was that not signed in 2013?
I travelled last year and there were no problems. We were not informed
through any official channel that new laws were in place. I felt like
the gum someone scrapes off the bottom of their shoe, being so easily
dictated to to do one thing or another for my freedom. They were
holding my strings; I was their marionette.
It wasn`t fair. It wasn`t right. No human being should be treated like
we were.

2015-07-27 - Ferial Haffajee - City Press
We were really not trying to traffic my young relatives, whose names
translate from Arabic as Faith and Lion. They were coming home for Eid.
Home is Cape Town, although the children have grown up in Saudi
Arabia, where my cousin, their dad, teaches. Their mum is from Cape
Town and lives in Jeddah.
No sooner had they landed than the children were bundled on to a plane
and deported. No Eid. Floods of tears. They got caught in onerous new
child-travel regulations (meant to combat child trafficking), which
set up a near-impossible list of requirements for children travelling
to or from South Africa.
The effect on tourists and tourism is well documented – the impact on
children who are South African or with South African links is less
well known.
Surely, a law never meant to get children deported before Eid, the
Muslim celebration at the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.
Fact-checking service Africa Check reports that 23 children were
believed to be trafficked in the latest information from the
department of home affairs.
Government has claimed an annual figure of 30 000 children as an
explanation for the draconian new laws.
This is Faith`s story.
I can`t name her as she (still) hopes to come and study in South
Africa because she loves our Constitution and all it stands for
We were coming home for Eid. My brother and I were excited to land in
Johannesburg with my mum and stepdad en route to our family in Cape
Town. But we were stopped because we did not have all the documents
for the new laws. Then it turned into a nightmare.
The one thing I always pray never happens is to see my mother crying.
This happened when officials questioned the legitimacy of her
relationship to my brother in the immigration centre. They were very
angry and refused to look at us.
We live in Jeddah and for years my mother has tried and failed to get
a copy of her birth certificate from home affairs and a passport for
my brother, who was born in Saudi Arabia but is entitled to South
African nationality.
I developed a sick feeling in my stomach from sitting there witnessing
not only us but several families being interrogated and pushed for
documents to prove their family bonds.
The South African embassy in Jeddah, where we had applied for our
visas, didn`t inform us of the changes related to travelling with
children. When we asked why they didn`t tell us of the new travelling
requirements, they insisted they had been emailed.
But if they were, why were so many families flying out of Saudi Arabia
experiencing the same problem? The airline (Saudia) was also informed
of the change and was meant to stop us boarding, but they failed to do
so. An airline representative at OR Tambo airport was very rude to the
families he was supposed to help.
We were asked to send an email of my brother`s birth certificate, and
my father (who was in Jeddah) did that.
At first an officer, Patrick Thileppe, said it would be enough, but he
consulted a supervisor and changed his mind. Only a commissioned
original would do.
Then my stepdad and mum were told we were "required to return to the
country we flew from or be held in a facility similar to a prison".
Sent to prison without trial under false accusations?
It was so strange to be told so easily that we could be sent to
prison, especially when they had earlier told us they could see we
were a family and the whole thing was a minor blip that would be
solved swiftly.
Instead, we were put on the next flight out of South Africa, my
mother`s land and my granny`s land. All the deported children were
crying.
It wasn`t the fact that we were held in a room for documents or being
sent back that was upsetting, although it did contribute greatly to
the feeling. It was the underlying abuse of authority that turned the
situation into a horror story.
There were law-abiding procedures that could have been undertaken, but
we were played with, yelled at and threatened.
The one set of laws I`ve always admired is that of South Africa,
especially the Constitution. I believe it is built on fairness,
equality and freedom. It`s why I want to study law at a university in
South Africa.
However, there was no fairness, equality or sense of justice in that
situation. I understand the child-trafficking law is important, but
was that not signed in 2013?
I travelled last year and there were no problems. We were not informed
through any official channel that new laws were in place. I felt like
the gum someone scrapes off the bottom of their shoe, being so easily
dictated to to do one thing or another for my freedom. They were
holding my strings; I was their marionette.
It wasn`t fair. It wasn`t right. No human being should be treated like
we were.