Refugees and Asylum Seekers

As a signatory to UN and OAU conventions on refugee protection, South Africa is obliged to provide protection to people who have well-founded fears of persecution due to race, ethnic origin, political and religious creed, and membership of any particular social groups.

• A Refugee is a person fleeing from individual persecution, generalized human rights violations or armed conflict in their country of origin.

• An Asylum Seeker is a person whose asylum claim has not yet been examined to ascertain whether his/her fear of persecution is well-founded.

• A Recognized Refugee is a person to whom the South African government has granted refugee status and asylum because it has established that his/her fear of persecution is well-founded.

Refugees and asylum seekers are among the first victims of the Xenophobia wave in South Africa. As a resourceful community, they are often to be found in the streets eking out of a living, pending a decision on their asylum application, or a possible return home in safety and dignity. Though entitled to work, their active lives and visibility make them easy targets for those citizens who harbour xenophobic sentiments. WIthout effective protection from police and other law enforcement officials, xenophobia threatens their rights, livelihood and well-being. Moreover, it undermines the system of refugee protection and the process of local integration. Thus, a dire need exists for increasing awareness about the plight and rights of refugees and asylum seekers, and for the enancement of the advocation capacities of refugee and asylum seeker communities.