Programme News
22 July 2015
(News)
Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) is calling on the public protector to investigate alleged corruption at refugee offices throughout South Africa. This follows the organisation’s two year study of the country’s asylum system.
They have found widespread corruption throughout the asylum process, from border crossings, refugee reception centers, application processes and detention centres....
22 July 2015
(News)
Corruption Watch says it is shocked by the findings of its latest investigations, which have revealed the extent of malpractice at refugee reception offices.
On average asylum seekers are reportedly being forced to pay at least four bribes to have their legal documents finalised.
Investigations have found that bribes are paid for a number of services, including directing applicants to the correct...
22 July 2015
(News)
Calls have been made for a reform of the Home Affairs Department to end corruption at refugee reception offices.
On Wednesday, the African Centre for Migration and Society released a new report documenting shocking levels of corruption in South Africa’s asylum system.
Foreign nationals reportedly have to pay multiple bribes at reception offices to have their paperwork finalised.
Researchers...
22 July 2015
(News)
Corruption Watch says it’s shocked by the findings of its latest investigations, which have revealed the extent of malpractice at refugee reception offices across the country.
On average, asylum seekers have reported being forced to pay at least four bribes to have their legal documents finalised.
Investigations have found that bribes are paid for a number of reasons, including directing...
22 July 2015
(News)
Refugees seeking asylum in South Africa are routinely asked for bribes at reception centers and border posts, two human rights groups said.
Almost 30 percent of the 928 asylum seekers surveyed while they were in or waiting to enter South African refugee reception offices experienced instances of corruption, Lawyers for Human Rights and the African Centre for Migration and Society said in a report...
22 July 2015
(News)
In South Africa, asylum seekers and refugees in need of documentation often have no choice but to pay for it. So says a new report exposing how corruption and bribery have permeated nearly every level of the country’s asylum system: from border crossings, to queues outside refugee reception offices, to what takes place inside those offices.
The report, carried out by the African Centre for...
22 July 2015
(News)
WERE it not for municipal by-laws, the area outside the Marabastad refugee reception centre run by the Department of Home Affairs could easily become a tent city akin to a makeshift refugee camp.
Marabastad is one of the centres where refugees have to go to secure the necessary documentation to remain legally in SA. It has been identified in a report by Lawyers for Human Rights and the African...
22 July 2015
(News)
ALMOST a third of the people who have to deal with SA’s refugee reception offices have been asked for bribes, a new report suggests.
It details the extent of corruption in the refugee-and asylum-seeking process and concludes that corruption in this area is "very serious".
The report, to be released on Wednesday by Lawyers for Human Rights and the African Centre for Migration and...
22 July 2015
(News)
A report on corruption levels in South Africa’s asylum-seeking system, called Queue Here for Corruption, has found that almost one-third of refugees have experienced corruption at a refugee reception office. But it doesn’t begin there: the report finds that refugees are at the mercy of corrupt officials from the second they enter South Africa, a trend that continues as they attempt to...
13 July 2015
(Press release)
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....