Deputy Minister Fatima Chohan: International Refugee Law

Paramount to the execution of international protection law is that all actors act in concert with a common view of the law, its ambit and limitations.

Among the 10 leading refugee producing countries in the world, 4 are situated on the African continent –Somalia, producing 1 121 700 refugees, Sudan with 649 300, the DRC with 499 500 and Eritria with 308 000.  25% of refugees come from sub-Saharan Africa.  It is therefore no surprise that, according to 2012 and 2013 UNHCR figures, South Africa is once again amongst the largest recipients of asylum applications in the world.

South Africa is signatory to all the international instruments governing the protection of refugees and asylum seekers, including the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa.

We have a broad refugee definition and provide basic rights, including freedom of movement, access to social services and the right to work to asylum seekers and refugees. However, this is not the case in most countries south of the Sahara in particular and this is not the case globally.

Most countries on the continent host refugees in camps that are maintained by the UNHCR. To be sure, while individuals present us with desperate and heart-wrenching circumstances –personally when I first walked into a refugee reception centre I found it a very emotional experience –we must reconcile ourselves to the reality that hosting refugees is taxing on any country, whether it is a wealthy country or not. From a resource point of view, social, economic and political challenges arise and quite often international relations are affected in this regard.

In recognition of this, the UNHCR coined the phraseology of "Burden Sharing" in urging countries to execute their protection commitments. Ironically today more refugees are hosted by developing as opposed to developed countries.

If the international protection regime is to continue into the next millennium, this has to be addressed.

In addition, nations implicated in refugee producing situations must be made to bear the bulk of the refugee burden so that they are compelled to consider the implications of wars before they cause them.

Countries around the world particularly developed and developing countries are seized with the challenges of mixed migration –particularly in this climate of economic shrinkage –but what is lacking in the discourse are considerations of shared prosperity, even development and fair trade agreements. Further, lacking in international discourse is how to forge global peace and stability which is a pre-condition for human beings to optimise their potential, and for societies to flourish.

South Africa is not unusual in the challenges it faces in asylum management, but it is unusual in that it has accepted the difficulties posed by a liberal asylum regime and persists in it.

We may not have the best facilities, we may not have a comprehensive social assistance policy for asylum seekers and there are various challenges which any asylum seeker can rattle off at the slightest opportunity, but with all of these difficulties, refugee communities flourish here, refugees have access to a range of social, health and education opportunities, participate in the economy, have freedom of movement and opportunities for durable solutions. There are several pull factors here that don't exist elsewhere on the continent.

I took over the refugee function at the department in 2011. Since then we have etched out some milestones in refugee management processes.

Historical challenges

We realised that we were not optimising the resources at our disposal in that refugee centers were processing applications on a backlog basis.

With the volumes of applications we were faced with –at that stage almost two hundred thousand annually –most of the capacity was directed at receiving new applicants in the tens of thousands.

It took on average between 3 to 7 years for applicants to obtain an interview with an Rapid Spacecraft Development Office (RSDO). In most cases, people had either abandoned their applications, or relocated to another city, and most applicants simply never turned up for their appointments which prolonged things further.

The backlogs were increasing daily and there was no process objective. This chaotic situation created opportunities for corruption and the asylum process was being used primarily by persons who were low skilled economic migrants thus undermining the country's ability to effectively manage migration.

To complicate matters our refugee centers were located in our major city centers flouting municipal by-laws, being taken to court by neighboring businesses, and in Cape Town we had the absurd situation of the applicants winning their suit to relocate the RRC, only to then purchase the premises we occupied in Maitland to become our new landlord.

Various changes have been effected in the processing of asylum claims and our greatest challenge was resistance faced by the very officials entrusted to effect those changes. In fact it become so blatant that when the decision was made to shut down the Port Elizabeth refugee center, a year later an internal investigation revealed that new applications were surreptitiously being processed.

In Cape Town an audit of files has revealed blatant corruption –in some instances Section 22 visas were continuously issued even after appeals were denied by the RAB, or even in the absence of application forms.

However I am pleased to say that with the assistance of the majority of public servants who by anyone's account, are real assets to our country, we have been able to achieve the closure of the Port Elizabeth (PE) and Cape Town RRCS and are at an advanced stage of working through the backlogs in these offices, we have in all of our RRCS implemented the current-system entailing the processing of new applications expeditiously.

We have not only been able to achieve an average three month turnaround time at all centers, but in the Durban and Musina centers we have achieved processing times within two to three weeks.

This has resulted in the weeding out of opportunistic applications, with Durban recording only approximately 400 applicants per month.

Interestingly the percentage of refugees being granted status in these Refugee Reception Centres has increased from an average of below 5 percent to almost 10 percent last year. This may indicate that genuine refugees are able to more freely access these centers and are choosing to use them.

The closure of PE and Cape Town RRCS has thus not affected our capacity to process all applications received in the existing RRCS, instead we not only are able to accommodate all applications for asylum –we have done so more efficiently and have sustained a three month turnaround average for just under two years now.

Our latest figures indicate that the capacity we have at the Durban and the Musina reception centres is underutilised, strangely so in the case of Musina considering that the single largest group of asylum seekers recorded continue to be Zimbabwean nationals.

In the coming year we hope to build on our successes in the following ways:

We hope to introduce a backlog process to address long outstanding applications and in this regard we will make announcements in 2015 as to the various plans we will pursue into the second phase of building on our hard won successes in ASM management.

Working with the UNHCR we hope to be able to address certain gaps in social assistance extended to asylum seekers and also an increased presence of the UNHCR at our Pretoria Refugee Centres where we continue to receive reports of corrupt activities. We hope to also develop common regional responses through our SADEC partners.

A pivotal change will be effected to operations at the two Refugee Centers in Pretoria.

We are working towards expediting our review and appeal processes and to this end we are preparing legislative amendments that will be tabled in Parliament next year.

Ladies and gentleman, colleagues, ours must be to forge common efforts in asylum management in our country, without forgetting that the "solution" to the worlds refugee burden is for governments around the world to make global peace and stability their priority.

In less than a month we commemorate the 1st anniversary of Madiba's passing. At the gathering of members of the UNHCR earlier this year, I reminded the assembly that it was Madiba who insisted humanity would profit from ensuring that in all it does it behaves in a way that ensures that everyone matters. This is the key to real peace and prosperity and a new era for humanity.

From within the icy confines of his tiny cell on Robben Island Madiba dared to think deeply about this profound question: How Can we ensure that Everyone Matters? This single thought liberated a nation that was otherwise doomed to self-destruct.  It is this single but profound thought that lingers like a candle in the darkness harkening humanity towards its hope and comfort.

Twenty years ago, we witnessed the miracle that was South Africa’s transformation into a democracy and its acceptance into the Community of Nations. While not without challenges, the peoples of the South African nation are irreversibly joined in the common values of human dignity, equality and a celebration of our diversity which is inspired by the knowledge that Everyone Matters.

It is this South African experience that will inspire nations to resolve their differences through mutual respect and to chart a new way through dialogue.

The idea that everyone matters holds the key to unlocking the tragedies of the oppressed and yearning peoples of the Central African Republic, Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia, Mali, Palestine, Libya, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and so many other places where mindless violence and destruction has been the order of the day.

The simple but profound idea that everyone matters holds the key to global security and lasting peace. This simple but powerful idea can deliver each of us from the shackles of our own limiting prejudices unlocking our true potential.

If we are a species deserving of the term “humanity”, we are enjoined to think new thoughts and act in a brave new way that ensures that in our time and for all time Everyone Matters!

Earlier this year at the UN General Assembly, President Zuma reflected this year, humanity stood by  helplessly as we witnessed in the comfort of our living rooms devastating and brutal violence, a humanitarian crises of shocking proportions. The President referred to the bereaved people of Palestine who but for a twist of history are excluded from the mandate of the UNHCR, but who are nonetheless refugees, without homes without basic medical facilities, without drinking water but more importantly – without  hope.

Given our own heritage and history when we were without hope, we are mindful of our moral responsibility in the global struggle against chauvinism and intolerance. We will in this regard continue to be at the forefront of efforts to protect refugees and to assist the people of our continent and the world to find solutions to refugee producing situations through dialogue and mutual respect with the fundamental understanding that regardless of differences between us –Everyone Matters.

The UN proclaimed July 18th the international day to commemorate Madiba’s birthday. Madiba has the single distinction of having received this honour while he was living amongst us. No other person has been accorded this honour. This son of Africa who taught black and white South Africans that Everyone Matters was in every sense a citizen of the world. His legacy now belongs to all nations and peoples.

May his legacy thrive and may humanity prosper thereby!

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