The Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs held a
multi-stakeholder meeting on Tuesday, 10 March, whereby the discussed the
impasse of refugees specifically that of Cape Town and Pretoria.
Refugees embarked on a protest action in
Pretoria in October last year, where they gathered outside the United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Present at the Committee was the Department of
Home Affairs, the City of Cape Town, South African Human Rights Commission, and
the UNHCR.
Home Affairs Minister, Aaron Motsoaledi, said
the City of Tswane adopted an attitude that the issue of foreign nationals is
the Department’s problem.
In Cape Town, refugees who were forcibly
removed earlier this month are now camping outside the District Six Museum.
A scuffle broke as the refugees living outside
the Central Methodist Mission church in Green Market Square after the City of
Cape Town enforced its by-laws, granted by the court.
Motsoaledi says if the matter was not resolved
with the eventual reintegration of those involved in the sit-in, they would be
repatriated to their countries of origin.
The UNHCR's head of the Cape Town office,
Miranda Gaanderse, expressed concern about the welfare of the protesters
sleeping in the church, and false promises made to people who joined the
protest.
The City’s Executive director for safety and
security, Richard Bosman, explained that the refugee situation has made it
difficult for the City of Cape Town, maintaining that the only way forward is
through reintegration.
Done By:
Mitchum George
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