SA Migration International

News Articles

Refugees march for legal recognition

Source: Groundup, 20/06/2018

`Give us papers. Refugees are not criminals,` chanted a group of
approximately 60 refugee representatives marching to Parliament in
Cape Town on Wednesday asking to be made legal.
`Today is international refugee day and we took that opportunity to
come to Parliament and put some pressure on the Department of Home
Affairs,` Director of Africans for Change, Germain Kalombo Ntambue
told GroundUp.
The refugees were from countries such as Zimbabwe, DRC and Burundi and
supported by organisations like the Refugee Rights Forum, Voice of
Africans for Change and Kongo Freedom Fighters.
`It is winter and people are standing in lines from 04:00. Most will
leave in the evening without being served and told to come the next
day. So you tell me who is making us illegal?` said Ntambue.
`It is the same home affairs that has been conducting raids and
arresting people with no papers.`
In a ruling on September 29, 2017, the Supreme Court of Appeal
declared unlawful the decision by the Department of Home Affairs to
close the Cape Town refugee reception office in 2012, and ordered the
department to re-open the office by March 2018.
But as yet the office has not been re-opened and several refugee
organisations have taken the department to court to enforce the order.
`We are standing nine months later without the centre in Cape Town
being opened and no clarity from the Minister as to why,` said Ntambue.
On June 19 GroundUp reported that the process to secure premises is
underway and should be complete by July 2018 according to the
Department of Public Works.
For 19-year-old Azama Damas from the DRC the success of the march
would mean an education. She came to South Africa with her father in
2013. Her father passed away in 2016 and she has been staying with
family friends since.
`I started school in South Africa in Grade eight but had to drop out
this year because I was told I could not write matric without papers,`
said Damas. `I have been everywhere because I want to get an education.`
`Everywhere I go they ask me for papers, there is no way for me to
better my life without having papers in this country, right now I am
wasting time sitting at home and not doing anything.`
In the memorandum the refugees asked for the cancellation of fines for
late extension of refugee permits, for Home Affairs to give the
go-ahead to the Department of Education for children to attend school
while awaiting the processes of home affairs, and for toilets to be
installed in the refugee centre.
`It is unacceptable to see the custodians of laws ignoring a court
ruling under the watch of the government, the judiciary and
parliament,` stated the memorandum.
`We call upon the South African government to uphold the principles of
democracy and democratic values where refugees and asylum seekers are
concerned.`
Burundi refugee Nijimbere Luqman has been in South Africa for two
years and has been struggling to get papers for himself and his
eight-year-old son.
`I moved here, leaving my family and my country, to be safe,` said
Luqman. `I have not spoken to my wife. I do not know if she is still
alive. I wanted a better future for my child but now he is sitting at
home and unable to go to school because of papers,` he said.
Another DRC refugee Vicky Nkosi has been in South Africa for five
years, and although he has papers, his wife and two children do not.
`My wife gave birth two weeks ago and we had to spend a lot of money
on private doctors because public hospitals would not accept her
without papers,` said Nkosi. `We have been everywhere trying to get
papers, taking a lot of money out of our pockets that we do not have.`
Nkosi works as a freelance photographer and his wife is unemployed.
The memorandum was accepted by the Deputy Director of Home Affairs,
Ignatius Mokgele, and Home Affairs Coordinator in the Cape Metro,
Samual Plaatjies.

Search

Latest News

This was revealed in the 2025 Easter border operations report, which saw border management authority officials, saps officers and home affairs workers intensify efforts to prevent illegal travel into the country over the holiday period.JOHANNESBURG - Zimbabwean nationals have been identified as the leading individuals attempting to illegally gain entry into South Africa.... Read more...

THE High Court has nullified the re-registration of a birth certificate for a child born out of wedlock, ordering the Registrar-General to strike it from the records.This ruling declared the birth certificate invalid, questioning the legality of attributing paternity to a deceased man decades after his death.The dispute arose from a contested inheritance involving the late Lazarus Mkuduâs estate.Teresiah Mkudu, the applicant, sought a declaratory order to invalidate Ruvimbo Manyondaâs birth certificate, issued nearly 20 years after Mkuduâs death.... Read more...

Residents from 34 countries can now apply for a visa to South Africa online. There are now 34 countries that can apply for a visa to South Africa online, which National Treasury says will help attract more tourists and skills into the country.This was trumpeted in Wednesday`s Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) as being one of the key successes of Operation Vulindlela. Operation Vulindlela is a joint initiative of the Presidency and National Treasury to assist in the acceleration of critical reforms needed to accelerate the economy.... Read more...