Programme News
5 March 2009
(Press release)
Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF), the international medical humanitarian organisation, today denounced the decision by South African authorities to close the ‘showground', a large open field in Musina town near the Zimbabwe border, where 3,000 - 4,000 Zimbabweans queue to apply for asylum and seek refuge each night.
The closure of the showgrounds demonstrates a...
5 March 2009
(News)
Thousands of Zimbabwean refugees are stranded after authorities in South Africa moved to shut a camp sheltering them in the border town of Musina.The refugees had fled a cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe and many hoped to seek political asylum in South Africa. The government said the refugees would be transferred to a military base, but aid officials criticised the move.Hollywood star Matt Damon, who...
26 February 2009
(News)
The Minister of Home Affairs has been ordered by thePretoria High Court to immediately release an asylum seeker from of theDemocratic Republic of the Congo who is being held at the Lindela HoldingFacility in Krugersdorp.
Max Boziss, 28, desperately tried to renew hisasylum seeker temporary permit, but long queues at the department prevented himfrom doing so in time. It was stated in court...
18 February 2009
(Press release)
Lawyers for Human Rights condemns the arrests of Roy Bennett, MDC Treasurer-General and deputy Minister of Agriculture designate. Bennett has apparently been charged under section 61 of the repressive Public Order and Security Act: conspiring to acquire arms with a view to disrupting essential services.
We further condemn the arrests of human rights lawyers Tawanda Zhuwarara and Rose Hanzi of ...
10 February 2009
(News)
Lawyers fight to improve refugee facility
By Zelda Venter
Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) are to approach the Pretoria High Court in a bid to force the government to improve conditions at a holding facility for refugees in Musina, or have it closed down. This follows the outbreak of cholera in Zimbabwe, which has since spread to Limpopo, Mpumalanga and Gauteng. It is claimed conditions at the...
9 February 2009
(Press release)
MEDIA RELEASE - 9 FEBRUARY 2009
LHR has lodged an urgent High Court application challenging the legality and conditions of the Soutpansberg Military Grounds detention centre in Musina. Further, the application challenges the blatant violation of the constitutional provision against the detention of children.
In contravention of the Immigration Act, the detention centre, commonly known as...
6 February 2009
(Press release)
06 February 2009
We, the undersigned organizations, are extremely concerned about the treatment of over a thousand Rohingyas from Burma and migrants from Bangladesh who have been forcibly expelled and abandoned in international waters by the Thai security forces since December 2008.
Over the past few weeks, several boats have been rescued off the coasts of Indonesia and the Andaman Islands of...
9 January 2009
(News)
Police say Albert Park ward councillor Vusi Khoza was arrested, apparently in connection with the robbery and assault of a man who lives in the area.He was arrested after it was alleged that he had accused a man of stealing a local woman's cellphone, according to police. The incident took place on Saturday, a day before locals attacked foreign nationals in the building.
Police spokesperson...
8 January 2009
(News)
Staff Writer
NO ARRESTS have been made in the attacks on foreigners in Durban at the weekend, despite alleged perpetrators being pointed out and CCTV footage clearly identifying them, Sherylle Dass of Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) said yesterday.
Dass said allegations were also made that members of the local Community Policing Forum (CPF) and African National Congress ward councillor Vusi...
10 December 2008
(Press release)
Countries around the world must uphold the human rights of the estimated 1 million people held in immigration detention around the world and work to develop community-based alternatives, the International Coalition on the Detention of Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Migrants (IDC) said today, International Human Rights Day.
The IDC call comes following the findings of their recent global survey...