High cost of being a refugee

2003-12-11 18:09

Pretoria - Many African refugees and asylum seekers in South Africa were having to pay bribes to get their applications processed, according to the results of a survey released on Thursday.

"There is ample evidence that significant amounts of money are changing hands between asylum seekers and refugees on the one hand and interpreters and home affairs officials on the other," says the National Refugee Baseline Survey released in Pretoria.

Of those exiles who encountered hurdles in the application process, up to a fifth said this amounted to them being asked to pay for services that were supposed to be free.

Of this group, 29% said they had to pay officials to submit an asylum application, 11% for the renewal of asylum permits, 16% for getting a refugee permit, and 6% for the renewal of refugee permits.

Nearly 60% of those asked to pay eventually forked out more than R150 to submit an asylum application, says the report.

Smaller amounts, up to R100, were charged for renewal of asylum permits - a process that has to be repeated regularly.

"On average, we found that interpreters received R365 per application submitted," the report reads.

Few asylum seekers ever reported such activities, it added.

Several campaigns being planned

Home affairs department director-general Barry Gilder, who attended the launch of the report, agreed corruption was a big problem.

Several interventions were in the pipeline, including the creation of a stronger investigating capacity, campaigns to educate staff and discourage them from soliciting bribes and improving their working conditions and morale.

"It is important we begin to get concrete cases we can follow up," said Gilder.

The report also identified other shortcomings in the asylum process.

More than 25% of respondents to the survey who applied before April 2000 to have their status determined were still waiting for a decision from the department.

"Over half of these applicants have waited for more than four years," reads the report.

About a third of respondents experienced stumbling blocks in renewing their asylum permits, and half in getting refugee status permits.

Some exiles have complained of being unable to gain access to refugee reception offices, leaving them without identity papers and unable to look for jobs.

Many of these problems were the result of staff shortages and a lack of training, the report states.

Gilder said his department was hampered by severe under-staffing, as well as infrastructural and technology backlogs.

"Given the role it should be playing, the department is chronically under-resourced."

Gilder welcomed the report, saying it gave the department "usable" information in its endeavours to improve its services.

- SAPA