In March 2020, The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) temporarily closed Refugee Reception Offices (RRO), and to date, they have not yet re-opened. The RRO are where refugees and asylum seekers apply for asylum, renew their permits and access other services, including applying for refugee IDs, family joining and separation services. Not having access to these services places women and children in situations of intimate partner violence at considerable risk, as was documented in a bulletin last year.
 
Since the national lockdown, DHA has provided blanket extensions on expired permits. The last extension ended in December 2021. There has been no blanket extension since, meaning that all persons who have not yet received their extended permit are essentially undocumented. An online permit renewal system was implemented in May 2021.
 
The development of an online system was a needed response to the COVID-19 pandemic and created an avenue for regularising permits while keeping people safe from infection. However, the system has had considerable challenges and compounded the vulnerability of refugees and asylum seekers who have not received a response on their application.

 

Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) has assisted with the online applications, having already assisted about 400 people, many of whom have limited digital literacy, internet access and fear being scammed. JRS has received reports of internet cafés charging people between R50-R250 to renew their permits. Many people have been left in limbo, having made the application and not receiving any response. JRS has witnessed the compounding impact that the failures of the online system and closure of RROs have had on people. Here a just a few examples of the many who are waiting.

 

Janvier*, an unaccompanied minor from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), arrived in South Africa in March 2020. He is currently being cared for by someone he heard speaking Swahili in the street. Janvier has been unable to apply for asylum and remains undocumented. Janvier has struggled to access education with no legal guardian or documentation, which places him at considerable risk of exploitation and limits access to basic services.

 

Yolande*, a refugee and recent matriculant who has been awarded a paid internship, nearly lost the opportunity due to her lack of documentation and inability to open a bank account as a result thereof. She applied several times online with no feedback from DHA until direct intervention with the RRO manager and going to the RRO directly.

She is a dependent under her mother’s refugee status, whose document was renewed in early 2022. After re-submitting the same documents several times and receiving contradictory instructions from DHA, Yolande received her document last week.

 

Grace*, an elderly refugee and primary caregiver for her four grandchildren, has not received an extension on her permit since applying in June 2021. The main source of support for her family is a child support grant. She has not received the child support grant since December 2021 due to no blanket extension being granted and not having received feedback on her application for extension. She has to provide a valid document to continue receiving the child support grant.

 

DHA has made no further announcement on the resumption of services or updates on the processing of online applications. It seems that DHA is perpetuating the very problem they are meant to solve, providing enabling documents.

 

Having a document is a privilege, a gateway to many opportunities. Think for a moment about how your life may change if you did not have a document? So many of our daily activities rely on documentation. Imagine being in this limbo?

 

Please sign this petition by the Human Rights Media Centre calling for the opening of RRO: 

 

 

* Pseudonyms have been used to protect the identity of persons.