Programme News
29 July 2011
(Press release)
Lawyers for Human Rights is concerned about the large numbers of Zimbabweans who will become vulnerable to arrest and deportation at the start of August when the moratorium on deportations is lifted. This moratorium has been in place since April 2009 when Home Affairs took the decision not to carry out any further deportations to Zimbabwe for a defined period. The moratorium was supposed to be...
27 July 2011
(Press release)
Speaking notes for the briefing to the media by Home Affairs Deputy Director-General, Jackie Mckay, Arcadia House, Arcadia, Pretoria, July 21 2011
Ladies and gentlemen of the media, in our weekly briefing today we will provide an update on our recent efforts to crack down on illegal immigration as well as an update on the Zimbabwe Documentation Project (ZDP).
Efforts to crack...
26 July 2011
(News)
Pretoria - Black Africans were not the only people targeted for deportation, the home affairs department said on Thursday. "That's not true, we target all nationals found to be without legal documentation, whether black or white, they are arrested and deported," said deputy director-general Jackie McKay, to a question at a media briefing in Pretoria. McKay highlighted that while...
15 July 2011
(Press release)
Johannesburg, 14 July 2011. Immigration detention in South Africa and internationally is extremely expensive, can harm the health and wellbeing of those detained and has been found to not be effective at deterring irregular migrants, including Zimbabweans. Global research spanning two years conducted by La Trobe University and the International Detention Coalition (IDC) found cheaper...
9 July 2011
(Press release)
LHR seeks to fill the following vacancies:
Attorney: Pretoria
The Refugee and Migrant Rights Programme seeks a self-motivated admitted attorney with an interest in constitutional and public interest litigation. Good writing and research skills are essential. High Court litigation experience would be an advantage. This is an opportunity to get exposure to international law, work with United...
4 July 2011
(News)
Johannesburg - ANC MP Maggie Maunye, who chairs the portfolio committee on home affairs, apologised on Sunday for comments she made which "may have been construed to be xenophobic", the ANC said.
"She realises that her remarks, which sought to underscore South Africa's challenges pertaining to the immigration control, may have been insensitive to the plight of many foreign...
4 July 2011
(News)
SAPA I Any undocumented Zimbabweans still in SA by the end of the government's amnesty period in July will be deported, home affairs said on Thursday.
When the July 31 moratorium extended last year to Zimbabweans expired, those who were still undocumented would be given a grace period, then sent back home, head of the Zimbabwe document project Jacob Mamabolo told reporters. This grace...
1 July 2011
(Press release)
It is with an increasing sense of frustration that LHR has learned of comments made by Ms Maggie Maunye, Chairperson of the Parliament’s Home Affairs’ Portfolio Committee.
On 29 July 2011, Ms Maunye made comments during a parliamentary portfolio committee meeting implying that South Africans have not been able to enjoy freedom since 1994 due to the presence of foreign nationals...
22 June 2011
(News)
Increasingly South Africa is receiving children migrating from countries as far off as Somalia, DRC, Burundi and Zimbabwe who cross borders without parents, relatives or care-givers. Commonly referred to as unaccompanied minors, these children leave their countries of origin for a number of reasons, some fleeing war and conflict, forcible recruitment as child soldiers, forced marriage,...
21 June 2011
(Press release)
In advance of the African Union (AU) summit which will take place from 23 June-1 July 2011, more than 115 civil society organisations wrote a short paper with observations and recommendations for African states parties of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on issues likely to arise at the summit regarding the ICC. This paper emphasizes the strong support for the ICC by African...