Ann Eveleth : In the Act
Civilian victims of the latest series of conflicts afflicting Southern Africa will welcome the news that South Africa’s first- ever Refugees Bill is rapidly traversing the corridors of power.
More than three decades after anti-colonial and civil wars first engulfed the region – creating large numbers of refugees – the Ministry of Home Affairs has finally put its money where its mouth is.
South Africa is a signatory to two United Nations conventions and one Organisation of African Unity convention on the rights of refugees. But the Refugees Bill, introduced in the National Assembly by the Minister of Home Affairs, Mangosuthu Buthelezi, in early November, is our first piece of legislation to give effect to these conventions.
The Bill seeks to speed up the process of determining an applicant’s refugee status, in order to extend rights to confirmed refugees sooner, and to prevent long-term abuse of the system by non-refugees.
South Africa adopted a refugee determination system in 1994, but many applications have taken up to three years to process. Since that date, nearly 48 000 asylum seekers have applied for refugee status in South Africa, but fewer than 8 000 have received recognition.
The Bill sets clear guidelines, in keeping with United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees guidelines, for determining the status of an asylum seeker.
It also spells out when an applicant will not qualify, and when his or her status can be revoked.
The Bill also sets a clear procedure for asylum seekers to follow. A refugee reception officer will interview an applicant and prepare a dossier on them.
This will be handed to a refugee status determination officer, who will make the first determination of eligibility.
The applicant may appeal an adverse decision through the Standing Committee for Refugee Affairs; followed by the Refugee Appeal Board and then a court of law.
The standing committee and appeal board will also monitor favourable recommendations by the determination officer. Decisions should not take longer than six months, with provision for an accelerated three-month process for “manifestly founded and manifestly unfounded, abusive and fraudulent claims”.
A worrying aspect of the Bill is that all members of both the standing committee and the appeal board are appointed by the minister. They are expected to be “unbiased and independent”, but they must also provide a system of checks and balances on the process.
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