M Gigaba: Africa Regional Chapter of International Association of
Refugee Law Judges

26 September 2006

Justice Tony North, President of the International Association of the
Refugee Law Judges,
Justice Bernard Ngoepe, Judge President of the Transvaal Division,
Esteemed members of the judicial fraternity from different African
States,
Mzuvukile Maqethuka, Director-General of the Department of Home Affairs,
Senior officials of the African Union, the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR),
Office of the High Commission for human rights,
Honoured guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,

We are honoured to welcome you to our country and especially to our seat of
administration, Pretoria, Justice North and all the other justices and eminent
guests who are attending the inaugural meeting of the Africa Chapter of the
International Association of Refugee Law Judges, representing as you do some
400 refugee law judges and decision-makers from over 50 different states.

We are heartened that you chose our country for this important meeting and
trust that we shall be hospitable hosts and therefore worth the honour you
bestowed on us.

We trust also that there shall be great benefits for both our country and
continent from this august organisation which represents the hopes of millions
of refugees and asylum-seekers that they shall be treated with humaneness and
compassion and in compliance with all international law, human rights and high
professional standards.

We are confident that the objects and programmes of your organisation shall
contribute immensely to enhance the situation of refugees and asylum-seekers in
our country and continent, given the particular fact that Africa is the highest
producer of refugees and asylum-seekers as well as that our continent lacks the
requisite capacity to manage the refugee situation.

At the same time we welcome the opportunity this organisation presents us,
to increase our global networks and enable us to share our experiences and
accumulated knowledge with other actors from across the world.

This will further enhance the situation of the African refugees in Europe,
precisely because we understand their situation and background and hence can
assist our colleagues in the field to understand them too and thus treat them
better. We hope we are not being forward in suggesting that we foresee this
chapter both serving refugees in Africa whilst at the same time playing an
advocacy role for African refugees abroad.

The Department of Home Affairs is delighted to be co-sponsoring this meeting
together with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the
office of the high commission for human rights and the African Union (AU).

South Africa's commitment to refugees is indubitable and we take our
obligations seriously.

A recent book, The Suitcase Stories: Refugee children reclaim their
identities, edited by Glynis Clacherty, Diane Welvering and the Suitcase
Storytellers says:

"South Africa has been a country of immigration for hundreds of years and
the country's mines and farms have relied on migrant labour from all over
southern Africa. After a long history of persecuting the majority of its
citizens and sending exiles throughout the world, the end of apartheid has made
South Africa an attractive destination for significant numbers of refugees and
asylum-seekers from conflict-ridden countries across the continent."

There are presently almost 150 000 refugees and asylum-seekers in South
Africa. Though this number is small compared to the camps in Kenya, Tanzania,
Uganda and elsewhere in Africa, many believe that the true number of refugees
in South Africa is much higher.

Furthermore, this book states that "unlike most countries on the continent,
South Africa does not maintain refugee camps and refugees get little direct
assistance. Rather, the country has adopted the rights-based approach which
formally allows refugees the right to work, move freely within the country and
access social services such as education and health care".

Then the book says, "In practice, however, there are significant problems in
accessing these rights. Many would-be asylum-seekers are refused access to
government offices if they cannot pay bribes. Others wait years to be granted
formal refugee status and then still face difficulties in acquiring identity
documents and accessing services. Hostility from the police, government,
service providers and South African citizens makes life difficult and some
refugees have even been deported by overzealous and corrupt immigration control
systems. The government has undertaken to reform this system but change is slow
in coming. We have quoted so extensively from this book including those
sections which are obviously unpleasant and uncomplimentary, precisely because
we wanted to underline the sheer magnitude of the challenge faced by developing
countries and the countries of Africa in particular".

Despite its relative economic, political and systems strength South Africa
still faces enormous challenges of corruption and capacity weakness which
creates a disparity between the rights of refugees as enshrined in the
Constitution and the legislation and their implementation on other hand.
Without seeking excuses, it should be remembered that South Africa is new to
democracy and globalisation, having throughout the apartheid colonial era been
a closed society, isolated from global trends and systems. We have only begun
to be integrated into the global system 12 years ago and our society is only
now learning the dynamics of globalisation and its impact on all countries.

At the same time, corruption is being frontally dealt with by the government
and society as a whole through partnerships to ensure that it is eradicated at
all levels. In this regard, it is evident that despite our own relative
strength, we too require serious assistance to enhance our expertise and
professionalism throughout the state system and society and to combat
xenophobia and ignorance at all levels.

However, we have, as a government taken firm steps during this year to
enhance our capacity better to manage our refugee programmes to ensure that we
address the backlog of pending asylum claims whilst at the same time expediting
new applications so that we do not impact negatively on the human rights of
refugees and asylum-seekers. We are determined to complete this work over the
next year.

We are very grateful to the UNHCR for their ongoing assistance and
co-operation with not only our backlog project, but also for providing training
and material assistance in support of our efforts. Of particular importance to
us here is the training on international and national refugee law that the
UNHCR has been able to provide, as the Department of Home Affairs recruits more
new eligibility and immigration officers.

We are convinced that the International Association of Refugee Law Judges
can be of great assistance in this area, bearing in mind the principal
objectives of your organisation, which we are certain would be eagerly
supported by the government of South Africa and indeed other governments,
especially given the particular challenges of lack of capacity in the areas of
migration and refugee policy and programmes in Africa.

In this regard, I would like to quote the report of the Global Commission on
International Migration released in 2005: "International migration policies
have traditionally been regarded as the preserve of states, exercising their
sovereign right to regulate the entry of non-citizens into their territory.
However, in exercising their sovereignty, States have long recognised the need
for a broader approach one which is based upon an agreed set of laws and norms
and which is intended to ensure that migration issues are addressed in a
principled and predictable manner."

Later the report says, "It is in the shared interest of the international
community to support those countries that need to strengthen their capacity in
the area of migration policy, whether through the provision of technical and
financial resources, the sharing of appropriate expertise or the establishment
of training initiatives."

I suppose we would also agree that the same is true with regard to refugee
issues that international conventions and sovereignty notwithstanding, it is
important that in the field of refugees and asylum-seekers too, States must
recognise the need for a broader approach "based upon an agreed set of laws and
norms, and which is intended to ensure that [refugee] issues are addressed in a
principled and predictable manner".

Refugee law needs consistency and predictability both at nation-state level
and abroad and policy and law-makers must, at the same time, bear in mind the
changing needs and insecurities of asylum-seekers and refugees.

We welcome the promise that this initiative presents to forge a strategic
partnership that involves international and national stakeholders, the State
and the judiciary to address these matters crucial to the human rights and
protection of refugees.

As a result of rising security concerns, after 11 September, especially
among developed nations their immigration and refugees regimes are tightening
up, and thus making it difficult for migrants and asylum-seekers from
developing countries to enter these countries.

The very objectives of this association are in cohesion with the report of
the global commission which they describe as in the "shared interest of the
international community", to "support those countries that need to strengthen
their capacity in the area of [refugee] policy, whether through the provision
of technical and financial resources, the sharing of appropriate expertise or
the establishment of training initiatives".

The IARLJ's record in professional development and capacity building is well
known; your commitment and dedication to professional development, capacity
building and partnership as well as your expertise and skills in this area is
something that we hope to benefit from here in Africa.

We view your work as important, standing as you do on the side of justice
for victims of what should never have been; what humankind should never
allow.

In his poem, Exile, the Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda says:

Exile is round in shape,
a circle, a ring.
Your feet go in circles, you cross land
and it's not your land.
Light wakes you up and it's not your light.
Night comes down, but your stars are missing.
You discover brothers, but they're not of your blood.
You're like an embarrassed ghost,
not loving more those who love you so much,
and it's still so strange that you miss
the hostile pickles of your own country,
the loud helplessness of your own people,
the bitter matters waiting for you
that will be snarling at you from the door.

But inevitably in my heart
I remembered every useless sign
as if only the sweetest honey
gathered in the tree of my own country
and I expected from every bird
the most faraway song
such as woke me from childhood on
in the damp light of dawn.
It seemed better to me, the poor earth
of my country, crater, sand,
the mineral face of the deserts
than the glass filled with light they toasted me with.
I felt lost and alone in the garden.
I was a rustic enemy of the statues,
of what many centuries had arrived at
among silver bees and symmetry.

Exiles! Distance
grows thicker.
We breathe air through a wound.
To live is a necessary obligation.
So, a spirit without roots is an injustice.
It rejects the beauty that is offered it.
It searches for its own unfortunate country,
and only there knows martyrdom or quite.

Indeed, I would like to believe that we all share the conviction like Neruda
that there is no place sweeter and better than home. If a person must leave
home, let it be out of choice and not compulsion for fear of persecution and
repression.

We must remain firm in our conviction that peace and democracy must be
achieved and all conflicts must be resolved peacefully. Until then the struggle
continues for peace, security and stability for all peoples of the world.

Even as we speak these words, millions of people around the world are
everywhere being condemned to asylum and destitution because of unnecessary
wars that could have been resolved but peacefully.

It is to these peoples that this organisation owes its existence.

As the outgoing United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, said at this
year's General Assembly: "Each of us must share the pain of all who suffer and
the joy of all who hope, wherever in the world they may live. Each of us must
earn the trust of his fellow men and women no matter what their race, colour or
creed and learn to trust them in turn.

We should like to wish you all well in your deliberations and we look
forward to following the latest activities of the new IARLJ Africa Chapter with
great interest as it develops and evolves in the coming months and years.

I am confident that the new IARLJ Africa Chapter will bring exciting new
opportunities and substantial benefits not only to South Africa but the entire
African continent as well.

Thank you!

Issued by: Department of Home Affairs
26 September 2006
Source: Department of Home Affairs (http://www.dha.gov.za/)