South African government urged to stop deportations

By Tichaona Sibanda
04 December 2006

The refugee support community in South Africa is gravely concerned about the mass deportations of Zimbabwe refugees and have asked the Pretoria government to stop the exercise.
Bowen Ndlovu, a member of the Zimbabwe Organisation for Refugee Empowerment in Johannesburg said there is fear that most of those deported over the last two weeks were genuine asylum seekers.
And as such, he said, the South African government had a responsiblity to uphold the United Nations Convention on Refugees as they are a signatory to that charter.
A source told us that asylum seekers have a right to remain in South Africa while their applications for refugee status are being determined. They also have a right to be returned to a "safe" country if their claim for refugee status is denied.
Ndlovu said church leaders and social justice advocates should also begin to speak out about their grave concerns for those whose claims are rejected, or who give up their claims, and are then deported back to their country of origin or to other countries.
‘There should be serious engagement between the South African government and civic society groups regarding refugees from Zimbabwe. A lot of those people who were deported deserved refugee status, and this is a serious problem that needs to be addressed urgently,’ said Ndlovu.