Refugees must abide by South Africa’s laws or be deported
10 March 2020
The Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs supports the government’s decision to reintegrate the refugees who have been protesting in Cape Town back into the communities in which they lived previously. In addition, the refugees must comply with South Africa’s laws and the by-laws of the City of Cape Town or they must be deported back to their countries of origin.
The best endeavours by the departments of Home Affairs and of Social Development, the South African Human Rights Commission, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the City of Cape Town are acknowledged. It is unfortunate that these overtures have been rejected by the refugees.
“While the committee acknowledges the humanitarian nature of the matter and accepts that South Africa adheres to the 1951 United Nations Convention and related protocols, it considers it unacceptable that despite the various overtures to end the demonstrations, the protesters remain steadfast in refusing any interventions, up to a point of breaking the laws of the country and by-laws of the City of Cape Town,” said Advocate Bongani Bongo.
This difficult view is premised on the need to protect the authority of the state, the rule of law and the supremacy of South Africa’s Constitution. Furthermore, information that arose was that some of the refugees have been reintegrated into societies they lived in, following the realisation that they were deceived with promises of repatriation to Canada, the United States and New Zealand.