Refugee office judgment reserved
JUDGMENT has been postponed indefinitely in the matter in which Sonke Gender Justice are looking to be admitted as a friend of the court in the case concerning the Department of Home Affairs’ (DHA) failure to comply with a court order requiring them to reopen the Cape Town refugee reception office (CTRRO).
The case was brought by the Scalabrini Centre, an organisation that tries to foster integration between migrants, refugees and South Africans, after the department closed the CTRRO in July 2012.
According to a statement from Sonke: “The CTRRO was the primary point of contact for asylum seekers and refugees with the government.”
“It is where asylum seekers must apply for asylum for refugee status, where interviews are conducted, where permits are renewed, and where refugee status documents are handed out. Currently, there are three fully functional RROs in Durban, Musina, and Pretoria.”
After hearing submissions from advocate Hannie Drake from Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR), representing Sonke and opposing submissions from advocate Grant Quixley representing the DHA, Judge Rosheni Allie of the Western Cape High Court said she would reserve judgment.
During the 90-minute virtual hearing, Drake said: “This gendered impact in respect of women, children and LGBTIQ+ persons is self-evidently more pronounced, the longer the CTRRO remains closed and the longer the DHA’s non-compliance continues.
“Scalabrini Centre brought an application to have the DHA comply with an order to have the CTRRO reopened and sought a special remedy in the form of the appointment of a special master to oversee the compliance of the order.”
Judge Allie said: “The gendered impact caused by the continued closure of the CTRRO is not something considered in the record and DHA has not dealt with reopening as a matter of urgency. Who else is going to provide the court with this information if Sonke does not do that?”
Dealing with the DHA’s non-compliance, Judge Allie added: “The court knows the effect of non-compliance. Until I read Sonke’s papers I didn’t not know the unfortunate circumstances asylum seekers go through as a result of DHA’s failure to reopen the CTRRO.”