The guards used baton sticks and were ably supported by the police to suppress what could have degenerated into a bloody confrontation with the refugees, who kept trying to vent their anger on the security personnel at intervals of about 30 minutes.Â
Some refugees claimed that they have been visiting the Home Affairs offices for the past three months without any success in securing the much sought after asylum permit papers.
Some of them were forced to feign disability and walk with the aid of crutches, in a bid to get preferential treatment.”This is the only way one can be attended to, otherwise one may find himself coming here for the next six months. What compounds our problems is that the police personnel deployed here have always failed to contain the situation, rendering queues useless,” said Chard Manenji of Hillbrow, a Zimbabwean citizen.
Mahommed Ahmed of Somalia accused the Home Affairs officials of deliberately slowing down service as a way of protesting the growing number of refugees entering the country.
 “Without these asylum papers, one would never be employed, study or start own business in this country. This is the main reason the refugees and asylum seekers have been at loggerheads with the security guards here.
“Our Somali community is not as huge as Zimbabwean asylum seekers, but the Home Affairs staff seem only to concentrate on Zimbabweans, leaving out Somalis, Sudanese, Congolese, Ethiopians, Ugandans and other Africa asylum seekers,” claimed Ahmed.
 Jocquim Arimando of Mozambique said he has been coming to the Home Affairs offices regularly over the past three months, but was yet to be attended to.
“I am not employed and where do they expect me to get money for transport everyday? In addition to that I need food while waiting for service which never comes, complained Arimando on Thursday.
“Starting tomorrow, I will be selling cigarettes, fruits and other goods in order to raise funds for transport. I cannot commit crime by robbing or ambushing people other than selling cigarettes in order to raise the money for transport,” said Arimando.
No immediate comment could be obtained from Home Affairs spokesperson Siobhan McCarthy, as her mobile phone went unanswered. –CAJ News.
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