Chiara Carter
Arefugee Bill about to be tabled in Parliament will provide for the processing of applications for asylum within three to six months.
The Bill, which is being certified by the state law advisers, is based on a draft White Paper completed earlier this year. Migrants and refugees to South Africa have fallen under the provisions of the Aliens Control Act – legislation that was initially motivated by a wish to exclude Jews fleeing the Nazis in Europe.
The Bill aims on the one hand to bring the country in line with its international and constitutional obligations, and on the other to meet state and national concerns which are said to include migration control and law and order, as well as concerns over crimes such as gun- running, drug-trafficking, money-laundering and crime syndicates.
The Bill is likely to propose that refugees apply to a refugee receiving officer who passes on the application to a refugee determination officer who in turn gives the applicant an oral hearing before making a decision.
A standing committee would review the matter and an appeal board hear appeals. The process is expected to take six months, but the Bill is likely to provide for fast-tracking in the case of applications suspected to be fraudulent.
The Bill is also likely to provide for measures including setting up reception centres if there is a mass influx of refugees.
Once the Bill is tabled it will be discussed and refined by parliamentary committees next year.
Discussion is likely to focus on ensuring the Bill meets South Africa’s constitutional and international obligations as well as the cost implications of the measures and how they fit with migration policy.
Issues likely to be debated by parliamentarians include the degree to which officials are impartial or linked to either the department or the ministry in terms of who appoints them and under what conditions they can be dismissed.
There is also likely to be discussion about the degree of subjectivity allowed to refugee receiving officers as well as the need to protect the rights of children and to ensure that those whom the authorities decide are not refugees are treated humanely.
Other concerns are likely to include that the hearings are conducted in a language applicants understand and that confidentiality is respected.