Thousands of people coming into South Africa from war-torn countries or countries rife with political unrest say they live in constant fear of being arrested.This is despite their numerous attempts, some since 2020, to apply for asylum at the Department of Home Affairs. Leaders of immigrant communities in Diepsloot, Gauteng, say they are aware of at least 15 people currently being held at the Lindela Repatriation Centre due to their inability to apply for asylum documents. An Ethiopian man who has been living and working in Diepsloot, Gauteng, for nearly four years says he fears being arrested each time he walks out of his home because he has been struggling for years to get legal asylum documents, GroundUp reports.

Ahmed*, 24, says he arrived in South Africa during the lockdown in 2020 after running away from political unrest in his hometown of Tigray in Ethiopia, in which thousands of people, particularly young men, were killed.

Refugee reception offices were still closed when he arrived, so Ahmed could not immediately apply for asylum. In 2021, he submitted an application online but did not get a response.

He said he has been arrested by police on more than one occasion for not having the proper paperwork but is always released when he shows them proof that he is awaiting feedback on the application he submitted.

In 2023, Ahmed was arrested again and detained at the Desmond Tutu Refugee Centre in Pretoria. 

He travelled there to get answers about his pending application but was arrested instead. He was later released after being booked for another interview. He has returned to the centre several times since then and is yet to get an asylum permit. 

He said: `I don`t know what to do. I`m afraid of being deported because back home in Ethiopia it is not safe.`

Another Ethiopian national from Diepsloot, Salmar*, arrived in South Africa in May 2024. 

Police detained him a few days after his arrival. He was released on bail after explaining his intention to apply for asylum.

He has also been to the refugee centre several times and was turned away each time without getting any help.

Ahmed and Salmar are among more than 10 000 asylum seekers and refugees who have sought help from Lawyers for Human Rights since 2020.

According to Daniel Sherrif, leader of the Ethiopian Community in Diepsloot, five new asylum seekers have been detained by police, while five others are being held at the Lindela Repatriation Centre due to their inability to apply for asylum documents.

This is in addition to five other Congolese nationals also being held at Lindela because they have not been able to get help to apply for documents.

Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber undertook an

Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber undertook an oversight visit to the Cape Town Department of Home Affairs and Refugee Reception Office in Epping where he received an update on the functionality of the home affairs services for citizens and for refugees and asylum seekers and also conducted a site inspection of the centre. (ER Lombard/Gallo Images)

Gallo Images

In May, the Scalabrini Centre in Cape Town, represented by Lawyers for Human Rights, approached the courts for an interdict to prevent authorities from arresting and detaining new asylum seekers, the lawyers said in a statement. 

This matter will be argued in the High Court in Cape Town on 27 August.

Court battle looms

Meanwhile, Lawyers for Human Rights has raised concerns with the frequency of cases in which asylum applicants being arrested while at or on their way to refugee reception centres. 

`New applicants for asylum have been subject to arrest, detention, and deportation without the opportunity to undergo a refugee status determination interview. This process effectively denies individuals access to the asylum system, leaving them vulnerable to deportation to their home countries, where they face persecution, violence, war, detention or even death.`

Sharon Ekambaram, who manages Lawyers for Human Rights, says the organisation`s offices in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban and Musina have been inundated with more than 10 000 cases of asylum seekers and refugees facing documentation challenges since 2020.

Ekambaram said most of the asylum seekers they have been assisting are yet to have their applications finalised. This adds to the Department of Home Affairs` existing refugee backlog, said Ekambaram.

`Home Affairs is doing nothing to make the process of applying for asylum and refugee documents accessible, and this must change,` she told GroundUp.

Claudia Marie Bernard Kayitane, director of the immigrant advocacy organisation Pax Afrika Network, said: `Laws that observe the right to protection for refugees continue to fail us. A lack of documentation exposes them to increased insecurity.`

Requests for comment sent to the Department of Home Affairs since 21 June have received no response.