I`ve been shorn of rights - Asylum seeker

Source: Sunday Times, 02/10/2016

PAKISTANI sheep shearer Jabba Ahmed thought he would be able to use
his skills and contribute to the economy when he sought asylum in
South Africa five years ago.


But the 21-year-old`s future hangs in the balance. He and other asylum
seekers are embroiled in a legal battle with the Department of Home
Affairs which could end up in the Constitutional Court.


The bone of contention is a directive issued in February by home
affairs director-general Mkuseli Apleni, which excludes failed asylum
seekers from applying for temporary residence permits.


Litigation ensued after the department rejected Ahmed`s application
for a critical skills visa.


Immigration regulations list sheep shearing as one of the skills
entitling foreigners to be considered for a "critical skills visa or
permanent residence permit".


Ahmed`s appeal against the department`s refusal to grant him refugee
status is pending before the Refugees Appeal Board, and he
successfully appealed to the Cape Town High Court last week against
Apleni`s directive.


Cape Town immigration lawyer Tashriq Ahmed and three asylum seekers
whose application have been rejected, including the sheep shearer,
successfully argued that the directive should be set aside.


They said it was irrational and unconstitutional, and contravened
another court order directing Home Affairs officials to "accept
applications for visas or permanent residence permits from foreigners
even though they might be asylum seekers whose applications for
refugee status are still pending".


Acting Judge Mark Sher found that Apleni acted "arbitrarily and
irrationally" in issuing the directive and ordered the department to
pay costs and to consider the asylum seekers` permit
applications.


But Ahmed`s joy was short lived. This week, home affairs lodged an
application for leave to appeal to the full bench of the court or to
the Supreme Court of Appeal.


Ahmed told the Sunday Times all he wanted was legal status and the
opportunity to do what he loves.


"There were a lot of problems in my country when I decided to fled to
South Africa in 2011," he said.


"I come from an area close to the Indian border which was plagued by
terrorist attacks on a daily basis.


"I love Cape Town. It is a beautiful city, I feel safe here and I want
to work legally. I love sheep shearing, it is my passion. I am
frustrated by what is happening right now, my life is in
suspense."


Ahmed said he had received many job offers but the lack of a permit
was hindering him.


The other asylum seekers who took on home affairs were Kuzikesa
Swinda, an information technology specialist from Democratic Republic
of the Congo, and Arifa Fahme from India.


Swinda also applied for a critical skills visa but his application was
also rejected pending his asylum claim currently before the Refugees
Appeal Board. Fahme has a five-year general work permit, expiring in
2020, which entitles him to work as a manager in a shop in Piketberg.



The department rejected his wife`s application for asylum. She then
applied for a visitor`s permit to be able to live with her husband and
four children. But VFS Global, an agent for the department, rejected
it based on Apleni`s directive.


Lawyer Tashriq Ahmed said litigating against the department had
drained his resources as most of the legal costs came out of his
pocket, although he was helped by the Forum of Immigration
Practitioners of South Africa. But he vowed to fight all the way to
the Constitutional Court.


His is planning a stand-up show to raise funds, and intends
approaching NGOs and other concerned lawyers.


"If the department thinks that we are going to stop, we are not," he
said.


"We are going to stop. "We are going to take this fight all the way to
the Constitutional Court" said Ahmed
"The directive is unconstitutional because a women cannot be with her
husband at the moment. If she gets deported it is against the
constitution and her dignity is impaired. "[Ahmed`s] dignity is
impaired because he has got a skill. He applied for [a critical skills
visa] and it should be granted," said the lawyer.


. We say the directive is unconstitutional because a woman cannot be
with her husband at the moment. If she gets deported it is against the
constitution and her dignity is impaired.


"(Ahmed`s) dignity is impaired because he has got a skill. He applied
for (a critical skills visa) and it should be granted."