Shift of migrant centres 'inhumane'

Source: Sunday Independent, 25/09/2016

Johannesburg - Lobby groups for migrants and refugees in South Africa
have labelled the proposed moving of processing centres for
asylum-seekers and refugees to ports of entry as an indignity and
inhumanity.
The comments, by African Diaspora Forum (ADF) and Zimbabwe Exiles
Forum (ZEF), come a week before the closing date of submission of
comments or representations on the green paper on international
migration.


The paper proposes relocating all processing centres for immigrants
and refugees to the ports of entry.


Gabriel Shumba, chairman of ZEF and human rights lawyer, said the
proposal is inimical to the spirit of integration and ubuntu.
"ZEF is unhappy with provisions moving processing centres for asylum
seekers and refugees to ports of entry. It is a back-door way of
introducing camps," he said.


"These camps will obviously be centres of indignity, corruption and
inhumanity if past experience in Lindela and Musina is anything to go
by.


"This move opens up serious possibilities of renditions and xenophobic
attacks. Moreover, the camps will make access to benefits of adequate
legal representation, for instance, a near impossibility."


Human rights activist and vice-chairman of ADF, Jean-Pierre Lukamba,
said the main problem for South Africa isn't mainly migration policy,
but the implementation, transparency and accountability.


"There is negative attitude by officials towards African immigrants
and also politicians are using immigrants as scapegoats to cover up
their failure," he said.


Lukamba also bemoaned the lack of trained law enforcement to
understand different documents carried by migrants.


"Police don't understand that refugees are protected by international
instruments South Africa willingly ratified, such as the 1951 Geneva
Convention relating to the status of refugees," he said.


Shumba condemned the green paper on international immigration, which
he said sought to measure the value of a refugee on what economic
benefits he/she brought to the country.


"This should not be so. We have a moral and legal obligation not only
to protect refugees from persecution by their governments, but also to
grant them permanent residence after a period of time in the
Republic," he said. "The provision limiting permanent residence after
five years from when a refugee has applied is not morally conscionable
and should be revisited. It perpetuates an uncertainty in the lives of
refugees, which have been in limbo for many years."


Meanwhile, our sister newspaper The Star reported that the Home
Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba said South Africans should embrace
international migration for the development of the country.


Gigaba was speaking at a policy dialogue with civil society on the
green paper on international migration in Doornfontein last
week.


"The policy seeks to implement a more rational asylum-seeker
management system based on our assessment of required improvement, as
well as international best practice," Gigaba said. "It also seeks to
make asylum-seeker process less attractive to economic
immigrants."


However, migrants lobby groups are of the view that Gigaba should
extend the consultations to include grassroots communities that were
not covered.


The Sunday Independent