Pretoria - Minister of Home Affairs Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma will on Monday 27 September 2010 depart for Europe where she will pay a four-nation visit including Belgium, France, Rome and Switzerland scheduled from Tuesday, 28 September to Thursday, 7 October 2010.
In Belgium, Minister Dlamini Zuma is expected to co-sign with her counterpart the Visa Waiver Agreement between South Africa and the Benelux (Belgium, Luxembourg, and Netherlands) countries for diplomatic and official passport holders.The Visa Waiver Agreement will be signed during President Zuma’s State Visit to Belgium scheduled for Wednesday 29 September 2010.
While in Europe Minister Dlamini Zuma will also visit France and Rome from Thursday, 30 September to Sunday, 3 October, where she is expected to visit South Africa’s Embassies with a view to reviewing Home Affairs operations in each of these countries.This comes within the context of the Minister’s commitment to reviewing the operations of Home Affairs with the aim of improving service delivery levels of the Department, at home and abroad.
61st session of the UNHCR Executive Committee (UNHCR EXCOM)
From Monday, 4 October 2010 to Wednesday, 6 October 2010, Minister Dlamini Zuma will lead a senior South African government delegation to the 61st session of the UNHCR Executive Committee in Geneva, Switzerland.South Africa is one of 79 members of the UNHCR EXCOM.
The Minister will deliver South Africa’s statement to the Executive Committee on Monday 4 October 2010 which is expected to focus on, amongst others, the documentation and regularisation of Zimbabwean nationals in South Africa which began on Monday 20 September and will continue until 31 December 2010.
During its sitting, the Executive Committee is expected to deliberate on the challenges currently facing the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), including amongst others:
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the intractability of conflict
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globally displaced populations, including amongst others, Afghan and Somali refugees and asylum seekers
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response by the international community to protracted situations, including the impact on host countries, inter alia, financial and economic responsibilities to refugees, need for increased international support, resettlement, support for refugee-affected and host areas and attempts to reduce the refugee footprint
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Natural disasters – the UNHRC has in recent years faced natural disasters with increasingly severe consequences and impact on local populations and accelerated the numbers of internally displaced people
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Priorities for the UNHRC including the challenge of dealing with mixed migratory flows and differentiating between economic migrants and asylum seekers/refugees as well as increasing numbers of climate refugees
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the reform of the UNHRC
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Funding for the UNHCR including the newly undertaken global needs assessment.
During the UNHRC EXCOM, Minister Dlamini Zuma is expected to hold a series of bilateral discussions on the margins of the session.
Enquiries:
Ronnie Mamoepa
Cell: 082 990 4853
