PRETORIA - South Africa's Department of Home Affairs has reported an upward trend in the number of Zimbabweans seeking refuge in South Africa, confirming concerns raised by human rights activists and opposition that the inclusive government had not lived up to expectations.
The departments statistics indicate an increase in asylum seekers in recent months, with 23 793 asylum permits issued between April and June this year compared to 17 082 during the same period last year. “Zimbabwe, a key SADC member, remained the perennial top refugee-sending country. As the socio-political tension intensified in Zimbabwe, the number of Zimbabweans fleeing their country of origin sky-rocketed ad infinitum, swelling the scale of asylum migration in the country,” says a report by Home Affairs, in possession of CAJ News.
The Acting Chief Director for asylum seekers management, Busisiwe Mkwebane-Tshehla said the newly-opened Tshwane Interim Refugee Reception Office (TIRRO) was issuing between 600 and1 166 temporary permits daily to new applicants, mainly from Zimbabwe.
Meanwhile, the department has denied reports that it was turning away asylum seekers from its Refugee Reception Centres around the country. Mkwebane-Tshehla said, “No asylum seeker has been turned away. Refugee Reception Centers are rendering services to all clients reporting to those offices.”
She was responding to reports that asylum seekers, particularly at the Tshwane Interim Refugee Reception Office were being turned away without getting attention from the refugee reception officers. The Directorate appealed to the SA government to take a stand on the issue of economic migrants, who were clogging its systems and creating unavoidable backlogs.
Due to the unprecedented demand for asylum permits, the DHA has been forced to increase its capacity and asylum operations with a series of process improvements at Refugee Reception Centres in Cape Town, Durban and Musina, in order to manage the influx of migrants.
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