Protest: Serve us, don’t beat and deport us!

Press statement for immediate release: 

‘Serve us, don’t beat and deport us’

PASSOP will be joining hands with Asylum seekers tomorrow and protesting against the use of violence by government contracted staff. While we cautiously welcome some of the latest undertakings made by South African Department of Home Affairs, we feel that much more needs to be done.

The protest will be held at the Cape Town Maitland Refugee Reception Office tomorrow,  Friday 13th of May, from 10:30 to 12:00

The protest dubbed ‘serve us, don’t beat and deport us’, aims to exert pressure on the Department of Home Affairs to further improve its services to refugees and asylum seekers.  Our protest has been provoked by the horrific treatment of asylum seekers in at the Refugee Reception Office in Marabastad and the on-going violent treatment at refugee reception centres across the country. While acknowledging the undertakings made today at the weekly media briefing by Home Affairs Director-General Mkuseli Apleni, we want those who authorized the use of sjamboks on queues and those who assaulted asylum seekers to be held accountable. 

Our protest comes at a time when there are mounting problems at the refugee reception centres including poor service, delays in the issuing of documents, frequent “running out of paper and forms”, poor queuing conditions and prohibitive policies and practices among other factors which inhibit the documentation of immigrants. In light of the many problems at the Refugee Reception Offices including the Cape Town Refugee Reception Centre and other parts of the country, we will also express our concern about the resumption of deportation of immigrants by the South African government at this point in time. We remain steadfast in opposing the inhumane practice of deportation without giving immigrants in the country adequate opportunity to be documented.

We believe deportations will not stop the influx of immigrants into South Africa, but are rather a waste of taxpayers’ money. Instead of deporting people, our desire is to see the Department of Home Affairs making efforts to create an environment conducive for the documentation of immigrants.

For comment, please contact, Langton Miriyoga on 084 026 9658 or Braam Hanekom 0843191764