Marianne Merten It is not unusual to see asylum seekers gathering outside the locked doors of Customs House on Cape Town’s foreshore as early as 7am. Hours later, the narrow linoleum-tiled corridor outside the fifth floor refugee office is a jumble of languages, frustration and patience worn thin among the dozens of applicants and home affairs officials alike. All applications for refugee status must be finalised within six months, according to amendments to the 1998 Refugee Act promulgated in April. In Cape Town, five officials have to deal with 12E000 pending applications. Insecurity among asylum seekers – some waiting for a decision for more than 12 months – has increased amid confusion over the implementation of the new regulations. They claim letters have been issued refusing applications, denying appeals and demanding asylum seekers leave South Africa within seven days. The regulations stipulate a 30-day period for appeal. Others fear their Section 41 permits issued before April, which allow work and study, would be replaced by the new Section 22 permits that prohibit both. Years of lobbying to separate refugees ( persons who flee their country because of persecution) from migrants (those arriving to seek work) are likely to become undone if the controversial immigration Bill is passed into law. Associate professor Jonathan Klaaren at the University of the Witwatersrand’s school of law says provisions of the Bill as it stands now would prevail over the Refugee Act. The envisaged immigration courts effectively destroy the current Refugee Appeal Board and administrative responsibility for refugees would fall under the proposed immigration service that also deals with migrants. This would be to the detriment of refugees and asylum seekers that South Africa is obliged to protect by international convention, Klaaren says. Among concerns raised during last week’s Regulating Migration in the 21st Century conference at Parliament, was that the Bill’s proposed community policing against migrants, while paying only lip service to anti-xenophobia education at grassroots level, would increase attacks on dark-skinned refugees. Pan-Africanist Congress MP Patricia de Lille told the conference xenophobia and racism are linked. “There is a growing perception that immigrants from Europe are bona fide investors whereas all African immigrants are illegal.” Refugee organisations and police met in Cape Town this week to look at improving relations and tackling crime and xenophobia. There are 15 000 refugees and 60 000 asylum seekers in South Africa. The Department of Home Affairs has asked the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to help tackle the backlog of 23 000 new applications. “Home affairs is most definitely underfunded, understaffed and people are working under tremendous strain,” says its deputy director general Ivan Lambinon. At least one Cape Town refugee applicant has carried for the past two months an official home affairs complimentary slip, date-stamped with the message: “To return to the refugee office on …” as proof the application is still pending. The words “House of Torture” are scribbled on an official notice that the Cape Town Refugee Office opens only at 9.30am every Wednesday because of staff meetings. This week tempers ran high because of long waits caused by the office not opening at all last Friday.