| Media release |
| Home Affairs briefs NGOs, service providers on asylum permitting plan |
MEDIA ALERT ISSUED BY THE MINISTRY.
The Department of Home Affairs today met with non-governmental organisations and service providers to asylum seekers and refugees on Fri, 27 March 2009 to brief them on the departmental plan to alleviate pressure on Refugee Reception offices in the Gauteng province.
The meeting, attended by among others Consortium for Refugees and Migrants in South Africa (CoRMSA), Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) and Black Sash, detailed the planned opening of an interim refugee reception office in Tshwane that will be up and running from the 7th of April.
The new centre - the Tshwane Interim Refugee Reception Office ( TIRRO) - will be dedicated to process new applications for asylum from people coming from Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. It is expected that the centre will relieve pressure already experienced at the two refugee reception offices at Marabastad, Pretoria and Crown Mines, Johannesburg.
“TIRRO is a direct response to the current unprecedented number of people applying for asylum in South Africa. We had to take decisive action to relieve the pressure at the other Gauteng sites in the short term, and to process the current backlog. We do not plan, however, to operate the centre for longer than two years,” says Busisiwe Mkhwebane-Tshehla, Acting Chief Director for Refugee Affairs at Home Affairs.
Commenting on the plan for the new facility, Home Affairs Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula says the challenges brought by the increased number of asylum seekers cannot be resolved by government alone, but by working with all the key role players in our society.
“We have done, and are doing, a lot of work to improve our systems and work ethics. Together we can provide these vulnerable members of our society with the opportunity to start a new life, ” says the Minister.
Regards
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Released by Chief Directorate: Communication
Enquiries: Ronnie Mamoepa(Head of Communication)-ronnie.mamoepa@dha.gov.za 082 990 4853 | 30/03/2009 |
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