All Press Releases
13 August 2015
Lawyers for Human Rights has appeared in the Pretoria High Court on behalf of a female-headed family, who are being evicted from their family home.
On 14 May 2013, the magistrates’ court in Soshanguve granted an eviction order against the family, holding that registration of the property into the name of a third party rendered the family members living in the home unlawful occupiers in...
7 August 2015
Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) is alarmed at the use of derogatory and offensive remarks made by Deputy Police Minister Makhotso Sotyu during a memorial service for slain police officers on Tuesday, 4 August 2015.
The tragic death of SAPS officials is indeed cause for alarm and we commend the stance in strengthening efforts to ensure their safety. The fact that 54 officials have been killed since...
6 August 2015
The Constitutional Court has refused the Department of Home Affairs’ application for leave to appeal March’s ruling in the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) that the Port Elizabeth Refugee Reception Office (RRO) be reopened.
The SCA had ordered Home Affairs to reopen the RRO and provide full services by 1 July 2015. The Department then appealed the ruling in the Constitutional Court where...
23 July 2015
The report released by Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) and the African Centre of Migration & Society (ACMS) on institutionalised corruption within the asylum application processes at Home Affairs offices countrywide must be tabled in Parliament and must be addressed.
The report contains shocking statistics and findings and produces evidence of human rights abuses and rampant corruption at...
22 July 2015
Today Lawyers for Human Rights and the African Centre for Migration & Society at Wits University launched key research findings on corruption within the South African asylum process, especially at the Department of Home Affairs’ five refugee recepton offices.
The report found that there were significant levels of corruption at various stages of the asylum process. In particular, the...
13 July 2015
Lawyers for Human Rights would like to invite you to attend its one-day seminar within the framework of this year’s Public Interest Law Gathering being held at the Wits Law School from 22-24 July 2015. This seminar will focus on refugee and migrants’ rights, with special attention on xenophobic violence that took place earlier this year. Please find the official programme attached....
10 July 2015
A sixteen year old boy who entered South Africa with his aunt after he was orphaned during armed conflict in the Congo was not included in her asylum seeker permit because he was not her biological child. This meant that, although he qualified to apply for asylum he had no papers and thus battled to get access to education and health services. With the assistance of Lawyers for Human Rights and...
24 June 2015
The urgent high court application to interdict the government from continuing with Operation Fiela-Reclaim raids unless legislative provisions are adhered to has been removed from the urgent roll in the high court in Pretoria.
Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) brought the challenge in light of grave concerns around the legality of Operation Fiela-Reclaim - a joint operation conducted by the police,...
22 June 2015
Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) has launched a high court challenge against the way in which Operation Fiela-Reclaim is being conducted across the country.
LHR is seeking an order declaring that the way in which this operation has been conducted in people’s homes is unlawful and unconstitutional to the extent that they were carried out without proper compliance with the need for...
19 June 2015
On this World Refugee Day, the People’s Coalition against Xenophobia commends the positive contributions that those who have been forced to flee their homes due to war, civil strife and persecution have made in their new adopted homes. Around the globe, communities will be celebrating the ingenuity and resilience of these groups.
Tragically, millions of people will mark this day in...