Release Glenanda Asylum seekers - lawyers (Pretoria News)
Release Glenanda Asylum seekers - lawyers
Asylum seekers and refugees detained at the Lindela Repatriation Centre following their removal from
Spokesperson Jacob van Garderen said his organisation had sent a team of lawyers to the detention centre to help those who believed they had been unlawfully detained.
"Valid asylum seekers and refugees should be released immediately," he said.
"If they are deported this contravenes the law that does not allow for their detention unless they have contravened the conditions of their permits," van Garderen said.
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'Valid asylum seekers and refugees should be released immediately' |
He said their permits allowed for freedom of movement, which was now being denied to them. He had received reports that the detainees had no access to food and water at Lindela.
Garderen complained that lawyers and NGOs were not allowed access to the refugees when they were at the camp.
Meanwhile the Co-ordinating Body for Refugee Communities said it deplored the manner in which the residents of the camp had been "bundled" to the detention centre.
"It is really a sad situation. The process of dealing with the people was inhumane," spokesperson Dosso Ndessomin said.
Ndessomin said most of the displaced people were confused about and reluctant to sign up for the temporary identification cards.
"They were uncertain about the IDs and were told conflicting information about what their status would be," Ndessomin said.
In terms of a government arrangement, residents at the camp who could not produce documents were invited to register their details in exchange for being allowed to stay in the country for six months.
Some residents feared that this would cancel existing agreements with the department of home affairs that secured their right to be in the country.
During a spate of attacks linked to xenophobia that left over 60 people dead, thousands of people displaced by the violence sought refuge at police stations and community centres, many losing all their possessions and documentation during the attacks.
In response, displacement centres were opened to provide temporary shelter. The government was currently in the process of winding down operations at the centres and reintegrating people back into their home communities.
Masebe said officials would check the immigration status of people moved to Lindela.
"If they are found to be in
He said records of authentic documents destroyed in the attacks could be traced.
"They will be in the system," he said.
Home Affairs spokesperson Cleo Mosana said she would provide further information after a fact gathering visit to the centre outside Randfontein on the
Published on the Web by IOL on 2008-07-23 11:58:38