South Africa withdraws asylum directive after days of violent protests
Home Affairs says the instruction, issued to carry out a Constitutional Court ruling, overwhelmed refugee offices and put officials at risk. Vehicles were torched in Durban and Soweto.
Johannesburg — South Africa's Department of Home Affairs has withdrawn a directive on how asylum applications are received, after violent anti-immigration protests in Durban and Soweto, according to reports by EWN and GroundUp.
Vehicles were set alight and businesses vandalised during the demonstrations.
What the directive was
The directive was issued on 28 September to put into effect a Constitutional Court judgment handed down in July in a case brought by the Scalabrini Centre. The court struck down parts of the Refugees Act that stopped people from applying for asylum because of the way they had entered the country.
Under the ruling, a person may apply regardless of how they arrived. Whether the application succeeds still depends on an individual legal assessment.
The department said the directive was an operational measure but had caused "unforeseen challenges". Refugee Reception Offices were overwhelmed, and it raised concerns about the safety of officials and about public order.
According to the reports, the directive was issued by the department's director-general without the minister's knowledge.
Reaction
The premier of Gauteng, Panyaza Lesufi, welcomed the withdrawal as "a relief that creates an opportunity for further consultation".
The withdrawal does not change the court's judgment, which remains binding. It leaves open how the department will now receive new applications, and when.
We reported earlier this week on vigilante groups confronting asylum seekers outside refugee offices as the system reopened to new applicants.
This report is based on reporting by EWN and GroundUp, via AllAfrica. The department had not announced a replacement procedure when it was written.
