UNHCR Forum, Cape Town

10.02.09 and 24.02.09

The UNHCR hosts regular meetings between different sets of NGO’s all devoted to the cause of aiding and assisting the refugees in South Africa. These meeting also featured discussions on the activities and challenges faced by the various task groups: Food Task Group, Income Generation Task Group and the Participatory Assessment Task Group. ADRO made a point during the discussions on the Food Task Group that there is still a great need of food in the Refugee camps in the Cape Town area. Even though the camps are officially closed, as many as 300 to 500 refugees remain in the camps. There was a profound debate about what needs more attention, the short term needs of the refugees or the long term needs. Food being a short term need. There was a general agreement that in the end it is more important to teach the refugees skills so that they will have the capacity to take care of themselves. Yet it would be hard for anyone to learn new skills on an empty stomach. It is important to concentrate on the long term needs of the refugees by concentrating on the tasks of the Income Generation Task Group, but the short term need of food is just as important, and is a fundamental human right. It’s important for all the NGO’s focusing on this area to work together to make the distribution of food as efficiently and effectively as possible.

A big part of this meeting focused on another task group focusing on creating a referral network. The referral network is organized by PAX, and they are in the process of organizing a database which will be comprised of all the relevant and up to date information from the various organizations involved in the forum, but will eventually spread out into other areas as well. If violence were to break out again, having a database consisting of all the interested parties, their contact details and their area of focus, will be a great benefit. The website would be made up of different section. The sections that are categorized are: Refugee rights, Health, Education, Skill's Training, Accommodation/Shelter, Social Welfare, Employment, Advocacy, Research, Legal, Protection, Conflict Resolution, Children, Women, and disabled.

The Department of Home Affairs was discussed as well. This department is creating a lot of problems for many refugees as they are taking their time processing the relevant documents. Many of the NGO’s have bad experiences concerning this department, so it was discussed in the meeting on the 10th of February that this forum invite the Department of Home Affairs to a special meeting where they can discuss the challenges the DHO is facing and figure out ways that the various NGO’s can assist the DHO in solving their challenges. This meeting could be a first step to creating a better relationship between the DHO and the various NGO’s. On the 24th of February it was announced that the meeting with the DHO would take place on the 3rd of March. ADRO will be attending that meeting.

Parliamentary Monitoring: SASSA

28.01.09

Portfolio Committee Meeting- Annual Report 2007/2008

ADRO attended the SASSA portfolio meeting in order to lobby the department and acquire further information regarding the Social Relief of Distress grant in relation to refugees.

The Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant was an area of particular focus, since more people require social assistance in the global economic crisis. The department received a large amount of cash in December and therefore appeared to pay out to more people. With this cash running out, SASSA must again limit the amount of people who are eligible for the grant. The SRD is designed to support families outside of the assistance framework, but only for a short period (3 months, 6 months in exceptional circumstances). Beneficiaries might receive cash or a food voucher. Currently, only cash is offered to those living in the Western Cape. SASSA may also assist with the purchasing of school uniforms for those claiming SRD. It was emphasized that the SRD is not intended to support those undertaking higher education, to the disgruntlement of some parliamentarians. Because SASSA have a fixed amount to spend on social grants, restrictions on who qualifies must remain tight.

The question of whether refugees are eligible for this grant was posed on behalf of ADRO, by the chairperson. SASSA confirmed that only adult disabled refugees, and those who are fostering a child are able to receive this benefit. SASSA’s spokesperson on this matter implied that the department was reviewing the current legislation with the possibility of expanding their definition of a refugee, but did not comment further on the immediate impact this had on the refugees displaced last year due to xenophobic attacks. Such limited criteria means that relatively few refugees can benefit from this grant, and many will remain without government assistance of any kind. The answers provided by the committee confirm the requirements, responsibilities and expectations of local NGOs, such as ADRO, in providing continuous support for these communities.

UNHCR Forum on the Reintegration and Protection of Refugees

27.01.09

On Tuesday the 27^th of January the UNHCR hosted their regular forum on the reintegration and protection of refugees. The meeting was attended by representatives of the UNHCR and a number of non-profit organizations dedicated to issues concerning refugees. ADRO was just one of the many organizations attending. One of the points of the forum was for the various nonprofit organizations to discuss the issues, regarding refugees, which concern them. In a previous meeting the different NGO’s were organized into different task groups, each of which highlighting a different area of importance. The three task groups discussed in this meeting were the task groups of food, income generation and participatory assessment. Each group spent some time discussing certain activities they were involved in and some challenges they faced.

Food Task Group: As many of the refugees are still in the camps, too afraid to reintegrate into mainstream society, the need to distribute food is still great. While the main aim is to try and reintegrate the refugees back into the communities, many of them have yet to leave. The government has decided to stop its shipments of food into the camps in way to force the refugees back into the communities. But whether this is the right way to go is not know. There are still some organizations that distribute food to the refugee camps, ADRO being one of them. In the last 2 months ADRO has made regular visits to the Bluewaters refugee camp, providing them food and other necessities. But ADRO’s funding is slowly running out and thus needs to find ways to continue its support for the refugees. The point was made by the UNHCR whether the distribution of food is the reason the refugees stay in the camps. There was also further discussion about the main duty of the Food Task Group. Its duty is not actually to deliver food to the camps, but to coordinate the issue with the other refugee organizations. ADRO and Scalabrini were to be the contacts for the other organizations if they were looking to distribute food. No matter what ones views on the subject, as long as the refugees stay in the camps, they will need to supplied with food. The Food Task Group should coordinate and discuss with the other groups in order to find ways to get some funding or assistance in providing the refugees with food.

Income Generation Task Group: The point of the matter is that the refugees cannot stay in the camps indefinitely. They have to return to the communities, but it is important that they learn to sustain themselves by assisting them in finding a job or training opportunities. Yet there are a lot of challenges facing this task group. They have been going to a number of refugee camps picking up CV’s, but many refuges either lack a CV all together, or they will be unable to get contacted, as they aren’t in possession of a phone. These task groups also have problems finding people who will support the refugees in providing them with training opportunities. Scalabrini has announced that it has approached the University of New York to see if they can create a program that would assist the refugees in creating small businesses and provide training for such purposes. Many refugees believe, especially the ones from Somalia, that the only skills they have is to run a business. A major problem, which needs to be addressed, is that refugee businesses could have the affect of undercutting South African owned businesses, which would lead to increasing resentment among native South Africans and cold thus lead to more xenophobic attacks.

Participatory Assessment Task Group: An important aspect of all the previously mentioned issues is to have a comprehensive framework in place to assess the performance of all the programs aimed at refugees. This task group finished Part A of the Assessment form, which is just a quick scan of the work being done, and it’s in the process of creating Part B of the assessment, which will involve comprehensive interviews with refugees. It’s very important to take the points of view from all the affected parties. One cannot create programs designed to aid the refugees, without taking their views into account. Refugees might have different priorities than those running the organizations and thus these two groups need to get together and discuss the issues in order to provide the best possible services. A comprehensive participatory assessment will greatly aid these organizations in preparing measures in case anything in the scale of the xenophobic attacks happened again. If it were to reoccur, then the organizations would be better prepared to handle the situation. It’s very important to have a system in place that enables us to look at the impact of everything we do.

Some thoughts

ADRO will continue to take part in this forum as it is an important way to create networks with the other organizations devoted to the lives of the refugees. By working together with these other groups we can continue to learn more on the issues affecting the refugees, which will aid us when we advocate on behalf of the refugees in our many discussions with parliamentary ministers, officers or other groups designed in some way to assist refugees and other vulnerable people. The main aim of anything that ADRO does is to help the refugees live a life of dignity as promised to them in the South African constitution and the Refugee Act of 1993.

Parliamentary Monitoring Report

20.01.09

Department of Labour (DoL) - Portfolio Committee Meeting

Annual Report of the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF)

ADRO attended the portfolio committee meeting for the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) at parliament. As part of ADRO’s advocacy programme, ADRO’s chairperson Anaclet Mbayagu, lobbied a committee member regarding refugees access to the UIF. Many refugees have told ADRO of their difficulties in accessing this insurance, despite the fact that they (via their employer) have been contributing to the fund. Often these difficulties result from refugees not having up-to-date documentation, since they are waiting for the Department of Home Affairs to renew their section 24 permit. The delays, corruption and backlog at Home Affairs are well known, and ADRO’s advocacy programme potentially includes court action against this department. Refugees are told they can also access this social security by bringing with them to the UIF pay point a letter from their employer. The UIF committee member also confirmed this. However, many of the refugees that are being retrenched do not have the means to appeal to their ex-employer. In many cases the employer believes that they no longer need to accept any responsibility towards their ex-employee and will not cooperate in terms of writing the letter that is required. The committee member agreed to take the matter forward with the Department of Labour and try to implement another way for refugees to access the money they are entitled to from the UIF. ADRO continues to monitor the situation, and will correspond with the committee member in order to track any changes in this area.

Food drive to the Bluewaters Refugee Camp

20.01.09

ADRO had a budget of R 19000 for the day, which was supposed to cover the food and transport, ADRO set out to MAKRO’s to buy the food parcels. It included:

· 600 kg of Rice

· 600 kg of Maize flour

· 600 kg of Red sugar Beans

· 240 liters of Milk

· 100 packs of porridge

At the refugee camp we handed out the first set of supplies to the refugees from Camp B, the smaller camp in the area. Then we moved on to Camp C, which is home to many different refugee communities from various parts of Africa, including Somalia, the DRC, Burundi, Ethiopia, Uganda and some others. Due to the fact that the refugees are slowly trickling out of the camps, it is very hard to have an up to date list of the size of the various groups, so we had to make estimations according to an older list and the claims of the refugees. We tried to make the distribution as fair as possible; we especially wanted to make sure that all the kids would have enough porridge and milk to last them until the next visit. The discussions on the size of the groups soon grew louder with each group claiming the others were lying about their numbers. But these arguments can be entitled to the food insecurities that exist in these refugee camps at the present moment. While the Refugee Act states that the Refugees have the right to food, the government does not seem to provide them with this right, due to the fact that they want the refugees to leave the camps and rejoin society where they will be more able to care for themselves.

Due to the fact that we did not have an up to date list of the current numbers, we could only make guesses and distribute the food as fair as possible. We also received several requests for school uniforms, books, sugar and, most urgently, clothes and clean towels for newborn babies, since there are at least four women in the camp that are due to give birth before the end of the month. ADRO has received clothes donations from Catholic Welfare Development (CWD), and hopes to sort and distribute these sometime next week.

Reflections

ADRO’s funding will run out at the end of January 2009, so ADRO will have to make it known to the refugees how they can obtain funds in order to provide for themselves. As it stands, refugees are currently entitled to apply for 3 types of social grants: Foster Child Grant, Disability Grant and Social Relief of Distress. They need to be educated in the ways to obtain these grants. As many of the refugees have experienced a disaster in the previous year in the form of the xenophobic attacks, many of them will be eligible for the Social Relief of Distress. As the Department of Home Affairs is making it hard for many of the refugees to renew their refugee status, many of them believe that they might not be able to apply for the social grants. But as it stands at the moment, you can receive a social grant with alternative documentation such as a baptismal certificate, road to health care clinic card, latest school term results, or a sworn statement from one of the following persons of repute: social worker, preacher or a councilor. At the moment ADRO is working to clarify with the Department of Social Development whether a refugee can claim Social Relief of Distress if he is only in possession of an expired refugee permit and is currently waiting for the Department of Home Affairs to issue a new one. Once we have more concrete information regarding this issue we will forward the information to the refugees and other vulnerable people.

Dental Care visit to Bluewaters Refugee Camp

12.01.09

Whilst Bluewaters camp is officially closed according to the South African government, the refugees remain due to the fact that they have nowhere else to go. The government wishes the inhabitants to integrate back into the community. However, upon our visit many residents informed us of their fear of this outcome, as many have suffered xenophobic attacks in the past year. During the month of December, ADRO organized for an independently operating Irish dentist to attend to the residents of the camp. The dentist administered antibiotics, painkillers, removed infected teeth and filled teeth in a state of decay. The amount of patients seen by the dentist varied from visit to visit. On this day he attended 10 patients.

While the dentist was attending to his patience, ADRO used the time to talk to the refugees and hear some of their challenges they were facing. One resident told us that he had been attacked by police officers because he enquired (possibly aggressively) about the camps future. He said that during the attack one of his front teeth had been broken. The refugees still living in this camp are malnourished and without access to healthcare. The camps electricity supply was turned off once the decision was made to evict the refugees Many of them spoke of other residents in the camp who had recently become ill and been taken to hospital. One man believed some people were suffering from Cholera, but ADRO is uncertain of the validity of this. Several NGOs that had previously been supplying food to the camp had not delivered any packages over the Christmas period. The Red Cross was criticized for only offering food to children. A retired nurse visits the camp each morning from 9am until 2pm, offering basic treatments and advice. One refugee spoke of the difficulty they were experiencing in attempting to renew their refugee permits with the department of Home Affairs. He said they had waited outside the office for hours and were not seen by an official. During one visit the police (using rubber bullets) fired upon the crowd waiting outside the department of Home Affairs. Several people were reportedly injured and taken to the local hospital. One man spoke of how he had been told by government officials that they would not deport him to his country of origin and he could not stay at the camp. He therefore felt trapped, since he had been robbed and attacked in the community where he had previously been residing. He said that he would almost rather return to the Democratic Republic of Congo (where he was originally from) than remain at the refugee camp without food and basic facilities.