Controversy continues to stalk the Lindela Repatriation Centre amid claims that the state, which refuses to acknowledge wrongdoing, is illegally keeping foreigners locked up -- and even trying to deport them before their cases have been decided by the courts. Last week, the state tried to subvert the justice system by arranging to deport foreigners held at Lindela before their cases had been finalised by the courts -- which later ordered their immediate release.
Yakubi Adeyemi* was placed on a plane bound for Nigeria in the early hours of March 28 -- but the flight was halted after an urgent court order was obtained by the Legal Resource Centre (LRC). Adeyemi is one of 22 men and women who had been held at Lindela for longer than the 120-day limit allowed for by the Immigration Act of 2002. After the failed bid to deport him, the department of home affairs was ordered by the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg to release the entire group, in accordance with the legislation. According to section 34 of the Act, an immigration officer may arrest an illegal foreigner without the need for a warrant and detain them for a period of no longer than 30 days, after which a subsequent 90-day order must be confirmed through a warrant issued by a magistrate. After 120 days of incarceration has elapsed, the Act stipulates all detainees should be released regardless of their official residence status. Additionally the Constitution states "everyone has the right not to be deprived of freedom arbitrarily or without just cause" -- a right afforded both to South Africans and foreigners.
"The department's behaviour [in trying to deport foreigners before the conclusion of the legal process] smacks of arrogance and indicates they are merely trying to prove a point as to who is in charge while people's dignity is violated and their livelihood is being put at risk," LRC attorney Naseema Fakir told the Mail & Guardian.
The LRC had on March 20 asked the court to order the state to release the group of foreigners. After earning a postponement in the case, the department of home affairs failed to appear in court on Thursday March 29, after which the court ordered the state to immediately release all applicants in the matter. However, in between court appearances the department had arranged to deport several applicants in the case. The LRC said it appeared that the haste with which the state tried to deport Adeyemi, who has two young children with his South African partner, was due to the fact that the department had already paid for his airline ticket -- before his case arrived in court.
"The department may look at this from a monetary point of view, but it is ridiculously traumatic for the individuals involved. There is no dignity in simply putting a person on a plane in order to get rid of them," Fakir said.
But the department of home affairs said it had been well within its rights to deport Adeyemi.
"There was no court order at the time the applicants were taken to OR Tambo International Airport to be deported. The order was granted at 5am on 29th March 2012. There was therefore no violation of the court order," the department said.
Ignoring court orders
But even after the court order stipulating immediate released was issued, another Nigerian detainee, Mogeni Oni*, was placed on a bus at Lindela ahead of a planned deportation. After emergency enquiries were made by the LRC as to why Oni was in the process of being deported, he was returned to the confinement area at Lindela. The 22 men and women were eventually released at 7pm on March 30 -- nearly 30 hours after the court order instructing immediate release was issued. The department of home affairs acknowledged that the 120-day limit for extended detention applied, but would not shoulder any blame for exceeding this period.
"The department works with resident embassies and high commissions in South Africa to verify the nationality of deportees and to process their travel documents. This process sometimes takes longer than 120 days," the department said.
The latest events follow a reported uprising at Lindela in which detainees, mainly of Nigerian and Ethiopian descent, were understood to have demanded a meeting with immigration officials after some were kept at the facility for more than nine months. After a violent confrontation, several internees were reported to have sustained serious injuries, with one understood to have been taken to hospital after the incident. After initially failing to respond to questions posed by the M&G on the unrest, the department eventually conceded that an "altercation" had occurred at Lindela but was "quickly brought under control" by officials at the centre. Earlier in March the LRC secured the release of a Nigerian and an Angolan who were unlawfully detained as illegal immigrants. The Nigerian, who had a valid work permit, was held for 114 days, while the Angolan was detained for 132 days without a warrant. The department has been accused of regarding deportation procedures with contempt.
"It seems as though they are truly a law unto themselves and court orders and the like have little effect on them," said Douglas Leresche, a project co-ordinator at People Against Suffering, Oppression and Poverty (PASSOP), an NGO working to protect and promote the rights of all refugees, asylum seekers and immigrants in South Africa.
While some of 22 foreigners involved in last week's incident are illegal immigrants, others say they have documents proving their stay in South Africa is legitimate. Damurah Mekonen* an Ethiopian national, businessman and resident of Durban for the past 11 years says he was arrested in late October while trying to have his residence permit renewed at Home Affairs offices in Glenwood. Mekonen said he was kept in Durban Westville prison for over a month before being transferred to Lindela, where he was kept for four months. He said no answers about his continued detention were forthcoming.
"These people know nothing. They simply arrest you and ask questions later. If you ask where they are taking you or why, they laugh at you," said Mekonen. "I am not a criminal and I have done nothing wrong. I am here legally and I pay taxes so I don't understand their problem," Merkonen added.
Merkonen, Adeyemi, Oni and the 19 other applicants now have two weeks to sort out the legalities of their stay in South Africa. After that, should they fail to secure the correct documentation, they will again face deportation. The process of organising visas and permits has been criticised as overly complex, with many immigrants saying it takes up to three days of constant queuing simply to renew a visa. The constant delays have led to a number of instances of immigration companies and individuals taking the department of home affairs to court. Some of those being held at Lindela say they ended up there because of reasons that were beyond their control.
Nadine Nzapa, a security guard from the Democratic Republic of Congo who has been in South Africa for six years, has been kept at Lindela for three weeks, after she was arrested for not having a valid work permit. Nzapa says she had not renewed her papers because her employer had threatened to fire her if she took time off to sort out her visa.
"There was nothing I could do. I need money to feed my children and I could not take off work," a tearful Nzapa told the M&G. As a result of her detention, Nzapa's six children, the oldest of which is 13, have been left to fend for themselves at her home in Yeoville.
"I don't know if they are going to school or looking after themselves. My children sometimes phone me and say they were given food, from who I don't know," Nzapa said.
*Names changed for fears of victimisation
Source: Mail & Guardian
Showing posts with label PASSOP. Show all posts
Showing posts with label PASSOP. Show all posts
Monday, April 2, 2012
Friday, October 7, 2011
Home affairs resumes Zim deportations
The moratorium on deporting illegal Zimbabweans has quietly been lifted by the department of home affairs, leading to an outcry from refugee rights groups. No deportations of Zimbabweans have taken place for almost two years while home affairs have been running the Zimbabwe documentation project (ZDP) to offer legal status to Zimbabweans living illegally in South Africa. Organisations working with migrants are angry that the department has not been open about a memo that was circulated among the police, army and refugee offices on September 27 explaining that deportations would resume.
The Mail & Guardian has a copy of the directive issued by director general of home affairs Mkuseli Apleni to the defence force, police offices and department of home affairs branches. The directive says "it aims to give clarity on Zimbabwean nationals who are not presently detected", and outlines the procedure that officers must follow when deporting immigrants. Home affairs spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa would not answer questions about the directive but did issue a press release this week saying that illegal immigrants could not claim protection under South Africa's laws. "No country in the world will allow illegal immigration within its borders. This is international practice," he said. Mamoepa told the M&G that the government had shown goodwill in attempting to regularise the status of Zimbabweans in the country and had given them a window of opportunity to hand in their fraudulent documents in return for amnesty.
People Against Suffering, Suppression, Oppression and Poverty's (PASSOP) Braam Hanekom said the "deportations are in direct contradiction to the recent undertakings made by home affairs director general, Mr Apleni, to Parliament not to embark on deportations of Zimbabweans until the Zimbabwean documentation project has been completed, appeals reviewed and the minister has approved deportations."
But the ZDP project is not complete. According to a research report compiled by the African Centre for Migration Studies (ACMS), "as of October 4, 145 000 permits were dispatched of 275 762 that were received, though processing was still taking place".
Human Rights Watch estimates that there are 1.5-million Zimbabweans in the country, although fewer than 300 000 applied for legal paperwork during the amnesty period. ACMS senior researcher Roni Amit said the resumption of deportations was "going to create problems". She said refugee rights groups were angry because home affairs had not been transparent about resuming deportations and that media reports this week had included denials of such a directive.
Amit said police who arrested Zimbabweans and sent them to deportation centres generally did not verify whether the individuals were still waiting for permits. The directive instructs officers to check if "the suspect has a pending application" for legal status and to conduct an interview with the suspect. But Amit was not convinced by this, saying: "The verification system does not work." Amit said public health groups had not been given advance warning that deportations were about to start. ACMS researcher Jo Vearey said Zimbabweans on chronic medicine for tuberculosis or HIV/Aids needed to continue taking their medication after deportation or run the risk of developing resistance to the diseases or catching multidrug resistant TB.
"Detention facilities are the perfect space for onward transmission of TB, and this poses a health risk to police officers and public immigration officials."
Source: Mail & Guardian
The Mail & Guardian has a copy of the directive issued by director general of home affairs Mkuseli Apleni to the defence force, police offices and department of home affairs branches. The directive says "it aims to give clarity on Zimbabwean nationals who are not presently detected", and outlines the procedure that officers must follow when deporting immigrants. Home affairs spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa would not answer questions about the directive but did issue a press release this week saying that illegal immigrants could not claim protection under South Africa's laws. "No country in the world will allow illegal immigration within its borders. This is international practice," he said. Mamoepa told the M&G that the government had shown goodwill in attempting to regularise the status of Zimbabweans in the country and had given them a window of opportunity to hand in their fraudulent documents in return for amnesty.
People Against Suffering, Suppression, Oppression and Poverty's (PASSOP) Braam Hanekom said the "deportations are in direct contradiction to the recent undertakings made by home affairs director general, Mr Apleni, to Parliament not to embark on deportations of Zimbabweans until the Zimbabwean documentation project has been completed, appeals reviewed and the minister has approved deportations."
But the ZDP project is not complete. According to a research report compiled by the African Centre for Migration Studies (ACMS), "as of October 4, 145 000 permits were dispatched of 275 762 that were received, though processing was still taking place".
Human Rights Watch estimates that there are 1.5-million Zimbabweans in the country, although fewer than 300 000 applied for legal paperwork during the amnesty period. ACMS senior researcher Roni Amit said the resumption of deportations was "going to create problems". She said refugee rights groups were angry because home affairs had not been transparent about resuming deportations and that media reports this week had included denials of such a directive.
Amit said police who arrested Zimbabweans and sent them to deportation centres generally did not verify whether the individuals were still waiting for permits. The directive instructs officers to check if "the suspect has a pending application" for legal status and to conduct an interview with the suspect. But Amit was not convinced by this, saying: "The verification system does not work." Amit said public health groups had not been given advance warning that deportations were about to start. ACMS researcher Jo Vearey said Zimbabweans on chronic medicine for tuberculosis or HIV/Aids needed to continue taking their medication after deportation or run the risk of developing resistance to the diseases or catching multidrug resistant TB.
"Detention facilities are the perfect space for onward transmission of TB, and this poses a health risk to police officers and public immigration officials."
Source: Mail & Guardian
Friday, September 3, 2010
SOUTH AFRICA : Deportation of Zimbabweans to begin again
South Africa will resume the deportation of undocumented Zimbabweans on 1 January 2011, ending its 17-month moratorium, the Cabinet announced on 1 September. "After the 31st of December [2010] all undocumented Zimbabweans will be treated like all others and their deportation will resume," said a statement issued after the Cabinet met. In April 2009 the government placed a moratorium on deportations, introduced a 90-day visa on demand for passport holders, and was on the cusp of issuing Zimbabweans with a special permit allowing them to work and reside in South Africa for between 6 months and 3 years.
The Forced Migration Studies Programme (FMSP) at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg (FMSP) estimates that between 1 million and 1.5 million Zimbabweans are living in South Africa. Loren Landau, director of FMSP, told IRIN that deportation "does not stop people wanting to come across [the border from neighbouring Zimbabwe]. Look at the US-Mexico border, where billions of dollars have been spent; it has not stopped people crossing."
NGOs advocating the reform of regional migration were scheduled to meet with government next week, but since the announcement they have raised concerns to IRIN that the policy was retrogressive, increased the risks of xenophobic attacks, and would not halt the flow of undocumented Zimbabwean migrants - about 200,000 Zimbabweans were deported in the year leading up to the April 2009 moratorium. Duncan Breen, of the Consortium for Refugees and Migrants in South Africa (CORMSA), said ahead of the meeting with government that the authorities had "concerns with border migration and border management ... and border integrity". Braam Hanekom, of People Against Suffering, Suppression, Oppression and Poverty (PASSOP), told IRIN that Cabinet's statement was "a big step backwards", the vulnerability of undocumented migrants would increase, and the "country has a history of [undocumented] migrants being raped and abused, but too afraid to report it to the police for fear of being deported." PASSOP said in a statement: "We believe that the large number of deportations and the proceeding 'witch hunt' of foreign nationals by the National Immigration Branch and South African Police were a major factor in creating the conditions that lead to the culture of xenophobia that haunts us today."
South Africa experienced wide-scale xenophobia in May 2008, when at least 60 people were killed and more than 100,000 displaced, and an undercurrent of xenophobic violence sometimes still surfaces as threats or attacks on foreigners The Cabinet announcement appears to have scuppered the initiative to issue Zimbabweans with special permits, which NGOs considered "in the best interests" of South Africa as well as the Zimbabwean migrants.
Tara Polzer, a senior FMSP researcher, noted in a migration policy brief in May 2009 that "the new set of policies [the special permit, the 90-day visa, a moratorium on deportations] regularizing movement between South Africa and Zimbabwe represented a positive shift towards a rational, coherent and regionally beneficial migration management approach."
Former President Thabo Mbeki's administration withdrew troops from the border in 2003 and their duties were taken over by the police, just as the effects of the Zimbabwe's political and economic crises began to gather momentum, spilling economic migrants in search of employment into the neighbouring states, with most seeking employment in South Africa.
In May 2010 South Africa re-deployed troops to the border. "Zimbabwean nationals who are working, conducting business, or studying in South Africa will be issued with a working permit, business permit, or study permit ... provided they have valid Zimbabwean documents," the Cabinet statement said. Most Zimbabwean migrants were unskilled and "Fewer than five percent of Zimbabweans will qualify for the new regulations, and most of them that do, already have," Landau noted. "People are coming back and forth and remitting money. If that option in not available [because of tighter restrictions] then they will just bring the whole family [to South Africa]," he said.
Government spokesperson Themba Maseko told local media that Cabinet's decision was based on the belief that "some form of stability has returned to Zimbabwe, and therefore all Zimbabweans will now be treated like any other foreign nationals."
The Forced Migration Studies Programme (FMSP) at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg (FMSP) estimates that between 1 million and 1.5 million Zimbabweans are living in South Africa. Loren Landau, director of FMSP, told IRIN that deportation "does not stop people wanting to come across [the border from neighbouring Zimbabwe]. Look at the US-Mexico border, where billions of dollars have been spent; it has not stopped people crossing."
NGOs advocating the reform of regional migration were scheduled to meet with government next week, but since the announcement they have raised concerns to IRIN that the policy was retrogressive, increased the risks of xenophobic attacks, and would not halt the flow of undocumented Zimbabwean migrants - about 200,000 Zimbabweans were deported in the year leading up to the April 2009 moratorium. Duncan Breen, of the Consortium for Refugees and Migrants in South Africa (CORMSA), said ahead of the meeting with government that the authorities had "concerns with border migration and border management ... and border integrity". Braam Hanekom, of People Against Suffering, Suppression, Oppression and Poverty (PASSOP), told IRIN that Cabinet's statement was "a big step backwards", the vulnerability of undocumented migrants would increase, and the "country has a history of [undocumented] migrants being raped and abused, but too afraid to report it to the police for fear of being deported." PASSOP said in a statement: "We believe that the large number of deportations and the proceeding 'witch hunt' of foreign nationals by the National Immigration Branch and South African Police were a major factor in creating the conditions that lead to the culture of xenophobia that haunts us today."
South Africa experienced wide-scale xenophobia in May 2008, when at least 60 people were killed and more than 100,000 displaced, and an undercurrent of xenophobic violence sometimes still surfaces as threats or attacks on foreigners The Cabinet announcement appears to have scuppered the initiative to issue Zimbabweans with special permits, which NGOs considered "in the best interests" of South Africa as well as the Zimbabwean migrants.
Tara Polzer, a senior FMSP researcher, noted in a migration policy brief in May 2009 that "the new set of policies [the special permit, the 90-day visa, a moratorium on deportations] regularizing movement between South Africa and Zimbabwe represented a positive shift towards a rational, coherent and regionally beneficial migration management approach."
Former President Thabo Mbeki's administration withdrew troops from the border in 2003 and their duties were taken over by the police, just as the effects of the Zimbabwe's political and economic crises began to gather momentum, spilling economic migrants in search of employment into the neighbouring states, with most seeking employment in South Africa.
In May 2010 South Africa re-deployed troops to the border. "Zimbabwean nationals who are working, conducting business, or studying in South Africa will be issued with a working permit, business permit, or study permit ... provided they have valid Zimbabwean documents," the Cabinet statement said. Most Zimbabwean migrants were unskilled and "Fewer than five percent of Zimbabweans will qualify for the new regulations, and most of them that do, already have," Landau noted. "People are coming back and forth and remitting money. If that option in not available [because of tighter restrictions] then they will just bring the whole family [to South Africa]," he said.
Government spokesperson Themba Maseko told local media that Cabinet's decision was based on the belief that "some form of stability has returned to Zimbabwe, and therefore all Zimbabweans will now be treated like any other foreign nationals."
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