Programme News
26 July 2013
(News)
National identity, a sense of belonging and the right to citizenship are fundamental human rights. In South Africa last week, in addition to celebrating the 95th birthday of Africa’s living legend, Nelson Mandela, the government also started rolling out “smart” national identity documents (IDs). These secure, tamper-resistant documents were issued to, among others, senior...
25 July 2013
(Press release)
Judgment has been reserved in the North Gauteng High Court after hearing two days of arguments against the discriminatory targeting of foreign traders in Limpopo by police and the Department of Home Affairs.
LHR is battling a controversial police crackdown called “Operation Hardstick” that has been used to unfairly target foreign traders. The right to trade is a necessity given...
25 July 2013
(Press release)
On Tuesday, the North Gauteng High Court will hear arguments against the discriminatory targeting of foreign traders in Limpopo by police and the Department of Home Affairs.
In the case of Somali Association of South Africa and others v Limpopo Department of Economic Development, Environment and Tourism and others, Lawyers for Human Rights is challenging the unlawful practice preventing...
24 July 2013
(News)
Foreign traders from Limpopo turned to the Pretoria High Court on Tuesday, claiming that they were being targeted and discriminated against by the police and the local authorities who were forcing them to close their businesses.
In the application by the Somali Association of South Africa, the Ethiopian Community of South Africa and others, against the Limpopo Department of Economic...
24 July 2013
(News)
Foreign traders who run spaza shops in Limpopo on Tuesday asked the North Gauteng High Court for an order enabling them to operate in the province.
The asylum seekers and refugees claimed they were being deliberately prevented from running businesses in Limpopo.
The case concerns the right of refugees and asylum seekers to support themselves by operating businesses in South Africa. It also...
18 July 2013
(Press release)
As part of this year's Public Interest Law Gathering at Wits University, Lawyers for Human Rights hosted a day-long seminar on The future of asylum in South Africa with panel discussions on the recent shifts in asylum policy, local integration and the government's decision to close and relocate urban refugee centres and the protection challenges caused by ongoing xenophobic attacks on...
11 July 2013
(News)
Does South Africa currently receive the “highest annual number of asylum applications worldwide”?
It is a claim that in recent weeks has been picked up and repeated, often verbatim, by various media outlets. For example, an SABC television interview with Home Affairs minister Naledi Pandor prior to World Refugee Day on 20 June was prefaced with an introduction stating that...
10 July 2013
(News)
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says an estimated 62 foreigners have been killed in South Africa this year between January and May.
This emerged during panel discussions at the annual Public Interest Law Gathering at the University of Witwatersrand.
UNHCR says an estimated 130 incidents of attacks on foreigners have been reported since the beginning of the year.
Seventy...
3 July 2013
(Press release)
Amnesty International opposes attempts by Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway to forcibly return people to the Somali capital, Mogadishu, and/or any other parts of south and central Somalia. The risk of human rights violations and abuses remains real in most areas of south and central Somalia, given limited government control, the significant continued presence of al- Shabab,...
26 June 2013
(Press release)
NGO Statement on International Protection
Extended Written Version
Agenda Item 3(a)
A. Thematic Concerns...................................................................................................... 3
1. Refugees.............................................................................................................................................................. 3
(i)...