Refugee office appeal sparks consternation
ASYLUM seekers living in Port Elizabeth fear the closure of the city’s refugee reception office as the fall-out will hit their pockets hard.
Asylum seekers say they will not be able to afford the travel costs if they have to go to offices in Pretoria, Musina and Durban to renew permits.
The court battle over the possible closure of the Port Elizabeth refugee office has already left local asylum seekers grappling for legal assistance.
In 2013, the Somali Association of SA won a court order from the High Court in Grahamstown, declaring that the 2012 decision by Home Affairs to close the Port Elizabeth office was unlawful.
Supreme Court of Appeals Judge Visvanathan Ponnan ordered the Port Elizabeth Refugee Reception Office to reopen on March 25 and be fully operational by July.
But now the department has appealed against the order. Director-general Mkuseli Apleni said the best places for refugee reception offices were points of entry and Port Elizabeth did not qualify.
Ibrahim Abukar Ali, 27, a Somali asylum seeker, arrived in South Africa after a threemonth trek. He left Somalia in 2011 after radical militia group al-Shabaab approached him to join them.
Ali, who lives in Port Elizabeth, said that after arriving in South Africa, he applied for refugee status at the North End office.
“I can’t afford to travel to the other offices every time I need to reapply for a permit because I don’t have a job.”
At the beginning of 2011, six refugee reception offices were in operation, in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town, Durban, Musina and Port Elizabeth. Since then, the department has closed the Johannesburg and Cape Town offices.
Bashir Hussein, 26, who left Somalia four years ago after his family was caught in the crossfire between al-Shabaab and Somali armed forces, said he would not be able to afford the travel costs.
“I help a friend in his shop and if I have to leave Port Elizabeth to go reapply for a permit I will lose that job.”
He said the Pretoria office was always over crowded.
“It will take about a month to reapply for the permit. Where will I stay? How will I earn money?”
When The Herald visited the refugee reception office in North End, the doors were open with a sign in the window stating the offices would not accept new applications but would help existing applicants.
NMMU Refugee Rights Centre director Linton Harmse said the refugee reception office in Port Elizabeth was still semi-operational despite the department’s filing an appeal with the Constitutional Court. “It is effectively not accepting new applications.”
He said the North End office processed about 45 000 applications a year.
Letichia Kotze, an attorney at the Refugee Rights Centre, said: “The Department of Home Affairs seems to be showing a wilful disregard for court orders.”