Press Review August 2020
NATIONAL COVERAGE South Africa’s Border Management Authority dream could be a nightmare Institute for Security Studies – 11 August 2020 South Africa passed a new Border Management Authority (BMA) Act, intended to improve efficiencies by providing a single authority to oversee all aspects of the border environment. Border control was previously tasked between seven different government departments. In the effort to centralize responsibility, concerns of poor management, abuse, and...
Press Review July 2020
NATIONAL COVERAGE Covid-19 moves refugees and asylum seekers to the bottom of priorities. Maverick Citizen - 28 July 2020 In the past, South Africa was well respected for its strong rights-based legislation for refugees as well as for asylum seekers. This generosity has vanished due to the policies that seem to be parallel from the constitution. Currently, asylum seekers and refugees are facing tough moments that are arising from the...
Press Review June 2020
NATIONAL COVERAGE Refugee Act Amendments increase probability of unlawful detention says report DailyMaverick.co.za - June 11th 2020 Description: Amendments to the Refugee Act which came into effect on the 1st of January increased the probability of asylum seekers and refugees being unlawfully detained and deported. According to a report published on the 11th of June. The inclusion of a new amendment allows for the detention and removal of an asylum seeker or refugee on vague grounds of “threat to...
Press Review May 2020
National Coverage How South Africa is denying refugees their rights: what needs to change The Conversation.com - May 12th 2020 South Africa hosted about 273,488 refugees and asylum seekers, of whom 84% come from sub-Saharan Africa, in 2018 - the latest period for which figures are available… The policy and law applying to refugees and asylum seekers in South Africa is largely progressive, [but] refugees in South Africa… face many challenges in accessing their rights to social protections...
Press Review April 2020
National Coverage Covid-19 is not a reason to hunt down illegal immigrants DailyMaverick.co.za - April 29th 2020 Thousands of people in South Africa are being excluded from government relief programs simply because they lack the legal requirements to be in the country. In the spirit of unity, this has to change. The lockdown in many countries in Africa, including Nigeria and South Africa, risks threatening the livelihoods...
Press Review March 2020
NATIONAL COVERAGE South Africa removes migrants squatting in Cape Town Apnews.com March 1, 2020 Hundreds of foreign migrants have been removed from central Cape Town by South African authorities following a months-long stand-off. The migrants, who were moved in an operation Sunday, had demanded to be relocated to other countries, claiming they had been threatened by xenophobic violence last year. But the group lost their court bid to compel...
