The suggestion in the media attributed to the Human Rights Commission (HRC) and People Against Suffering, Suppression, Oppression and Poverty (PASSOP) alleging that the Department of Home Affairs today, Tuesday 6 November intends deporting 30 foreign nationals who have been detained at Lindela Transit Centre in Johannesburg is wholly incorrect and false.
No such plan exists, as alleged by both HRC and PASSOP, to deport 30 foreign nationals today, that may have stayed over 120 days at the Lindela transit centre. We remain unaware of such a plan by the department to deport foreign nationals today. As the legal maxim goes “he who alleges has the responsibility to prove”.
In this context we reiterate our response to the media that until today neither the state attorney’s office nor the department’s legal section have been served with summonses from the HRC/PASSOP regarding the alleged plan to deport 30 foreign nationals at Lindela today. As soon as such summonses are served, the department will indeed respond comprehensively to the allegations at the appropriate forum.
It is within the mandate of the department to deal with issues of illegal migrants in the country. However in dealing with such issues, Minister of Home Affairs Naledi Pandor has reiterated that department must ensure it discharges its mandate within the framework of the laws of our country and the constitution while ensuring full compliance with our international obligations and protocols regarding the treatment of illegal foreign nationals.
In this regard, the department will continue to ensure that those illegal foreign nationals that are in the care of the Lindela transit centre are treated as humanely as possible while ensuring they do not stay over 120 days, in full compliance with our own domestic laws as well as the department’s own procedures.
Yet we remain aware of attempts by some inmates who seek to frustrate these efforts by refusing to co-operate with officers at the transit centre. These attempts include among others refusal to provide details of their nationalities or to co-operate with officials of their respective high commissions and/or embassies. These issues will continue to receive the attention of the department and indeed that of Minister Naledi Pandor with a view to finding a long lasting solution to these challenges.
