• It is proper to state from the outset that South Africa is a signatory to many international conventions, treaties and protocols relating to the protection and promotion of the rights of refugees in particular, and vulnerable groups in general. Of particular importance for the purposes of this response is that, South Africa is a signatory to the 1951 UN Convention relating to status of Refugees, 1967 Protocol relating to status of refugees and the 1969 OAU Convention relating to specific aspects of refugee problems in Africa.
• The OAU refugee definition expands the 1951 Refugee Convention's narrow "well-founded fear of being persecuted" standard by including other grounds for refugee status, including flights across borders caused by "external aggression, occupation, foreign domination, or events seriously disturbing public order in either part or the whole of his country of origin or nationality."

• The African Charter on Human and People's Rights (African Charter), to which South Africa is a party, guarantees for the rights of every individual, "when persecuted, to seek and obtain asylum in other countries in accordance with laws of those countries and international conventions."
• The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the OAU Convention on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, to which South Africa is a party, protect the rights of refugee and asylum-seeking children, and place obligations on states parties to ensure that such children are protected and assisted and have access to services such as legal defense, education, and others.
• The 1996 South African constitution guarantees fundamental rights to all individuals, including refugees and asylum seekers. The Bill of Rights entrenches the rights (among others) to human dignity, freedom and security of the person, and the right of everyone in South Africa to have access to housing and health care.
• It is important to note these because our own legislative response in the form of Refugees Act of 1998, coupled by its Regulations, which became applicable only in the year 2000, is mostly influenced by the international instruments as explained above. The Refugees Act of 1998 specifically makes reference in section 6, that in interpreting and applying the provisions of the Refugees Act, due regard must be given to the 1951 UN Convention, 1967 UN Protocol, 1969 OAU convention and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The commitment of the Republic to these international agreements is well documented but is not without challenges.
• The Refugees Act, which came into effect in 2000, provides the first specific refugee law framework for South Africa. It is a marked shift from the previous Aliens Control Act, which, as noted above, was essentially silent on refugee protection. The Refugees Act sets up the "refugee reception offices" which are tasked with issuing temporary permits to asylum seekers and with conducting eligibility and refugee status determination interviews.
• The Director-General designated five offices (Durban, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Marabastad and Rossettenville) as the Refugee Reception Offices in the Republic of South Africa in terms of Section 8 of the Refugee Act, and this meant the issuance of section 22 asylum seekers permits at these offices and section 24(3)(a) permits to recognized refugees.
• Section 22 permits of the Refugee Act assist the asylum seekers to sojourn in the Republic whilst their applications are processed. South Africa does not have refugee camps therefore asylum seekers are allowed to be part of the SA community. They can seek employment and study whiles waiting for the determination of their status. Due to human capacity problems, the department delayed to process the applications within 6 months as required by the Act.
• Section 24(3)(a) permit is granted to recognized refugees and allows refugees to apply for a Refugee Identity Document within fourteen (14) days after they have been issued with a section 24(3)(a) permit. Recognized refugees are entitled to apply for United Nations Travel Documents to travel abroad.
• The Department's management resolved to issue the Refugee Smart Cards as an Identification form to recognized refugees. A pilot project was conducted in September 2005 by enrolling refugees for the Smart Card. The process will be rolled out to the five refugee reception offices during November 2005.
• Refugees cannot access services like opening a bank account, accessing social grants and health services without ID Documents and child certificates.
• Since the inception of the asylum procedure during 1994, the department has received more than 186 000 applications for asylum.

• The challenges experienced by our country and department of home affairs in particular in effectively implementing these laws, must be understood within the context of our democratic transition (young democracy) and the challenges facing Africa in general. The fact that only eleven years ago South Africa became a democratic country means that capacity problems in governance are inevitable.
• These problems are coupled by a plethora of conflicts in the continent, which saw an influx of asylum seekers into the country. Ineffective implementation of the Refugees Act of 1998 was and still is, influenced mostly by the fact that refugee law is a new field of law in the country. This has been seen in the loopholes that exist in this act, which have been exploited both by those who are not genuine refugees, and some corrupt legal practitioners within our own country.

• The Republic mandated the Department of Home Affairs to administer the laws relating to matters of refugees in the country. The department has put in place a solid base by establishing a more efficient National Immigration Branch (NIB) to deal inter-alia with refugee matters. Refugee Affairs section is located within the NIB to implement refugee laws. In so doing, the department is also guided by the values and codes of the Southern African region.
• The department has put in place two important units that will contribute significantly in our commitment to protect and promote the rights of refugees. These are Counter Corruption and Counter Xenophobia Units. These units are important particularly to prevent abuse of refugees and asylum seekers who are in the country. Additional to these is an effort by the department to reinforce the existing capacity by a new brand of cadres committed and qualified to deal with refugee problems. The first process towards a more efficient refugee regime in the country is the eradication of backlog asylum applications in the department of home affairs. This process is currently underway and hopefully it will be completed within the agreed timeframes.
• The South African government continues to engage robustly within the African Union (AU) and United Nations (UN) for a durable solution regarding refugee problems in the continent. Efforts by the AU to rid the continent of the catastrophic conflicts must be redoubled to ensure sustainable development and good governance. Our commitment to the latter is attested to by our voluntary participation in the Peer Review Process so as to expose our policies and practices to the periodic review of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM).

• In an effort to reverse perceptions around refugee affairs and related matters a Draft Counter Xenophobia strategy has been developed. The strategy seeks to create awareness on practices that project elements of Xenophobia. The following stakeholders have been identified and engaged:
• *National Consortium on Refugee Affairs
• *Forced Migrants Working Group
• *UNHCR
• *NGOS
• *Local communities

SUB DIRECTORATE: COUNTER XENOPHOBIA

• The unit intends engaging the SAPS on how to deal with the foreigners.
• Forum including the above mentioned stakeholders will be aimed at inculcating the human rights culture in the communities.

• 1^st round Counter Xenophobia training offered on the 11^th May 2005 to the Immigration trainees at the Alpha Center.
• 2^nd round Counter Xenophobia training 23^rd August 2005 and still continue to conduct training in the department.