LHR dismayed at closure of refugee reception office in Johannesburg
Lawyers for Human Rights notes its dismay at the closure of the only refugee reception office in Johannesburg at Crown Mines. The closure of this office is due to a court order requiring its closure after the surrounding businesses in the area approached the court to seek the closure of the office. It appears that this order was granted on the grounds that DHA used the building without obtaining the necessary zoning authorisation.
Despite considerable challenges, the Crown Mines refugee reception office has made great strides in improving its services to the refugee community. This has included considerable expenditure on consultants, upgrades in file management and systems to curb and control corruption within the office. This progress will be lost in the move to the Pretoria office.
Our dismay comes from the fact that the Department of Home Affairs has long been aware of the zoning problems and the threats from neighbouring businesses to seek such a court order but has done little to mitigate the causes of the complaints of the businesses. In addition the department has made no efforts to find suitable alternative offices. Instead, department officials appear to blame the asylum seekers for causing the nuisance.
One of the failings of the Department is the lack of institutional memory regarding the closure of both the Rosettenville and Braamfontein refugee reception offices after similar complaints from neighbours. This will be the third time in the past 10 years that South Africa’s largest city will be left without services to asylum seekers and refugees. Asylum seekers and refugees will now be required to travel to Pretoria and seek services at the TIRRO refugee reception office at the Pretoria Showgrounds. This causes undue hardships on those who endeavour to comply with their obligations under the Refugees Act by adding to the costs of transportation for this vulnerable group.
In every previous closure we have observed serious disruptions to service including lost files, poor data management and lack of access to services. This disruption leaves asylum seekers vulnerable to arrest and detention due to lack of renewed documents and inability to verify status in departmental records.
DHA has an obligation to provide the services under its domestic and international obligations. The Department has taken a negative view of this community and has gone so far as to blame asylum seekers for the closure of the office. This has the danger of fuelling xenophobic sentiment against clients of the refugee reception offices who are attempting to comply with their obligations under the Act.
We are equally concerned about the call by the Department to move refugee reception services to border points and detain asylum seekers during the adjudication process of their claims . We are particularly concerned about the lack of planning, costing and public consultation with what amounts to a complete change of refugee policy in this country as well as the use of detention as a means of deterring those seeking refugee protection in South Africa.
We call on the Department of Home Affairs in conjunction with the Department of Public Works, to immediate resume refugee reception services at a suitable site in Johannesburg. We further call on the Department to engage with stakeholders and service providers in the refugee community to examine the lawfulness of this drastic policy change to ensure positive and efficient adjudication of refugee claims in South Africa.
For more information, please contact:
Kaajal Ramjathan-Keogh
Head: Refugee and Migrant Rights Programme
Lawyers for Human Rights
011-339 1960
Jacob van Garderen David Cote
National Director Coordinator: Strategic Litigation Unit
Lawyers for Human Rights Lawyers for Human Rights
012-320-2943 / 082-820-3960 012 320 2943 / 072-628-7698