In the media
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10 April 2015
News24
Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) issued a stern condemnation on Thursday over the treatment of foreign nationals at the hands of police in Durban.
On Wednesday, a group of over 300 foreign nationals gathered in central Durban for an organised march to protest a spate of xenophobic attacks.
While permission for the march had been granted, it was withdrawn as the procession was about to start, with police insisting they could not guarantee the safety of the marchers.
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11 April 2015
Independant on Saturday
After a fresh outbreak of xenophobic attacks in Umlazi on Friday, following a week in which four people have died in the greater Durban area, Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba has urged leaders to refrain from making statements that instigate or condone attacks on foreigners.
Addressing displaced foreign nationals at the Westcliff Sports Ground in Chatsworth, Gigaba appealed to all leaders to be mindful of what they say.
“All our leaders in the country have a responsibility to use words to build and not destroy,” he said, addressing hundreds of refugees.
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9 April 2015
Times Live
The unlawful detention of foreign nationals at the infamous Lindela Repatriation Centre continues despite a court order.
The court order states Home Affairs must take “all steps reasonably necessary or appropriate” to ensure that no person is detained for longer than 30 days without a warrant. The Legal Resources Centre said they are deeply concerned by the “flagrant disregard of the court order”.
Recently LRC came to the aid of a 22-year-old Congolese man‚ Mr E‚ who had spent longer than 30 days behind bars without a warrant.
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20 March 2015
Radio Islam
LHR's Patricia Erasmus was invited to discuss human rights in South Africa as part of Human Rights Day.
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24 April 2015
eNCA
Inwoners van die Plastic View-informele nedersetting op munisipale grond in die ooste van Pretoria kan vir eers 'n sug van verligting slaak. Die Noord-Gautengse hooggeregshof het beslis die Tshwane-metroraad mag nie die grond waarop hulle woon op 'n veil.
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8 April 2015
Pretoria News
Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) is challenging the constitutionality of sections of the Immigration Act which do not make provision for detainees to be brought before court in person to challenge the lawfulness of their detention.
LHR’s head of detention monitoring, Lesirela Letsebe, said in an affidavit before the High Court in Pretoria that hundreds of foreigners were unlawfully held at the Lindela repatriation facility and at other facilities including police stations.
These people usually do not know their rights, nor do immigration officers inform them.
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8 April 2015
The Citizen
Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) has applied for sections of the Immigration Act to be declared unconstitutional because they deny immigration detainees the right to be brought before court to challenge the lawfulness of their detention.
Judge Billy Mothle yesterday postponed the application indefinitely in the North Gauteng High Court, allowing the department of home affairs to file opposing papers.
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7 April 2015
Pretoria News
More than 40 years after being evicted from their land and 17 years of court battles, the Baphiring community – with the help of Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) – is returning to their home in North West.
The Baphiring case sets a precedent of how communities should be settled on land restored to them through restitution.
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2 April 2015
SABC
The spate of looting of foreign national's shops in Isipingo south of Durban has again thrown open the issue of xenophobia once again.
Police say members of the community were allegedly looting shops owned by foreigners. To discuss the impact of xenophobia on the integration of migrants in South Africa we have in our Durban studios Nomagugu Mlawe. Shes an attorney with Lawyers for Human rights in the refugee and migrant rights programme.
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1 April 2015
The Sowetan
Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini's call for all foreign nationals to be kicked out of the country has landed him in hot water with the SA Human Rights Commission.
The commission said yesterday it had received a formal complaint against the Zulu monarch.
Zwelithini reportedly said at the weekend that the fact that certain countries played a role in the country's struggle for liberation "should not be used as an excuse to create a situation where foreigners are allowed to inconvenience locals".
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