Performance Overview of Standing Committee for Refugee Affairs (SCRA)

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The presentation to Parliament highlights the mandate and functions of the Standing Committee for Refugee Affairs (SCRA) as per the Refugees Act. Established to make decisions independently, the SCRA oversees reviews, work permissions for asylum seekers, monitoring of decisions, and advice to the Minister. It also plays a critical role in protecting refugee rights, certification for permanent residence, and withdrawing refugee status for various reasons.

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Standing Committee for Refugee Affairs Presentation to Parliament on Performance of the Standing Committee for Refugee Affairs (SCRA) Presented by: N.J. Mugwena 02/03 /2021 1

SCRAS MANDATE IN TERMS OF THE REFUGEES ACT 130 OF 1998 AS AMENDED BY ACT 11 OF 2017 The Standing Committee for Refugee Affairs (SCRA) is established in terms of Sec 9A(1). In terms of Sec 9A(2) the Standing Committee is independent and must function without any fear, favour or prejudice. In terms of Sec 9B all Members of the Standing Committee are legally qualified and appointed by the Minister for a period not exceeding five years at a time. In terms of section 9H the administrative work connected with the functions of the Standing Committee must be performed by officers of the Department, designated by the Director- General for that purpose. The Standing Committee s role is purely decision making in nature. The Standing Committee is dependent on the Department for budget and human resources. 2

SCRAS MANDATE continue The mandate and function of the Standing Committee for Refugee Affairs is derived from the following sections of the Refugees Act (130 of 1998) as amended by Act 11 of 2017. 9C. (1) The Standing Committee (a) must determine any review in terms of section 24A; (b) must, in the event that an asylum seeker is permitted to work or study in the Republic, determine the period and conditions in terms of which such asylum seeker may work or study whilst awaiting the outcome of his or her application for asylum; (c) may monitor and supervise all decisions taken by Refugee Status Determination Officers and may approve, disapprove or refer any such decision back to the Refugee Reception Office with recommendations as to how the matter must be dealt with; and (d) must advise the Minister or Director-General on any matter referred to it by the Minister or Director- General, including training that may be provided to members of staff at Refugee Reception Offices. (2) Any function performed by the Standing Committee in terms of this Act must be determined by a single member or, in particular matters, such number of members of the Standing Committee as the chairperson may consider necessary 3

SCRAS MANDATE continued Protection and General Rights of Refugees: Section 27(c) In terms of section 27(c) of the Act, the refugee is entitled to certification in instances where refugees have been in the country for a continuous period of ten (10) years and conditions in his/her country of origin have not yet improved. Certification will entitle a refugee to apply for permanent residence. Withdrawal of Refugee Status: Sec 36 Only the Standing Committee can withdraw a Refugee s status. The Standing Committee must inform such a person of the intention to withdraw the refugee status and after reviewing the representation (if submitted) the Standing Committee may withdraw a person s status. SCRA also has powers to withdraw refugee status in terms of sec 36 if: a) Such a person has been recognised as a refugee due to fraud, forgery or false or misleading information of a material or substantive nature in relation to his application; b) Such person has been recognised as a refugee due to an error omission or oversight; or c) Such a person ceases to qualify for refugee status in terms of section 5. After withdrawal of the refugee status that person must be treated as an illegal foreigner in terms of section 32 of the Immigration Act 4

OVERVIEW OF THE COMPOSITION OF SCRA OVERVIEW OF THE COMPOSITION OF SCRA SCRA Chair Person 1 X Secretary (sl8) SCRA Members 5X Members (SL 11) SCRA Members 5X Members (SL 11) SCRA Members 5X Members (SL 11) SCRA Members SCRA Members SCRA Members SCRA Members SCRA DD Admin Support (sl12) 1 x Chief Admin Clerk (sl7) 1 Quality Assurance Officer (sl10) 1 x ASD ADMIN (sl10) SCRA Members 1 x SN Admin Registry (sl8) 1 x SN Admin Drafting (sl8) 1 x SN Admin Legal (sl8) 1 x SN Admin Officer (SL 8) 1 x Admin clerk (sl6) 1 x Admin clerk (sl6) 1 x Admin clerk (sl6) 1 x Admin clerk (sl6) 1 x Admin clerk (sl6) 1 x Admin clerk (sl6) 1 x Admin clerk (sl6) Vacant Unfunded Posts Filled Posts Backlog Project Posts to be filled 1 x Admin clerk (sl6) 5

APPLICATIONS FOR CERTIFICATION IN TERMS OF SEC 27(C) OF THE ACT STANDING COMMITTEE FOR REFUGEE AFFAIRS SECTION 27( C) STATISTICS FROM JANUARY 2020-DECEMBER 2020 Certification considered, pending finalization *** 55 13 238 113 89 61 0 0 0 0 230 89 154 48 114 54 145 59 128 43 95 39 108 59 1356 578 Certification not granted and status not withdrawn Sec 27(c) considered Certification granted Certification not granted and status withdrawn Month JAN FEB MAR APRIL MAY JUNE JULY AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC TOTAL 22 111 12 12 8 4 0 0 5 14 8 8 15 11 5 90 8 6 12 0 0 21 31 17 24 10 8 9 146 0 0 115 61 35 54 60 37 35 542 *** Applications for certification considered, but returned pending further information i.e. copies of passport, marriage certificates, etc. 6

BREAKDOWN OF SEC 36 STATISTICS SEC 36 STATISTICS FROM JANUARY 2020 - DECEMBER 2020 Sec 36 Submissions for Withdrawals from RRO's Recommended 37 8 36 17 55 21 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 292 30 212 18 45 0 42 0 58 0 777 94 Voluntary Sec 36 Withdrawals 2020 Sec 36 Considered Not Recommended JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUNE JULY AUG SEPT OCT NOV DEC TOTAL 10 11 19 19 8 15 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 262 193 45 42 58 642 41 These withdrawals emanate from submissions from RROs and voluntary withdrawal only 7

LITIGATION Litigation matters are prioritsed by SCRA NOTICES OF MOTIONS SERVED ON SCRA for 2020 LETTERS OF DEMAND Sec 24(3)(b) Sec 27(c) Sec 36 24 TOTAL 2473 3 1549 4049 Sec 24(3)(b): Review of Refugee Status Determination Officers decisions rejected as manifestly unfounded, abusive or fraudulent Sec 27(c): Application to be considered as a refugee indefinitely Sec 36: Withdrawal of refugee statuses 8

OPERATION PAINT CITY AND WINGFIELD SCRA functions include review of RSDO decisions which were rejected as manifestly unfounded, Abusive and fraudulent. SCRA also attend to certification and withdrawal of refugee status. 381 cases were referred to SCRA for processing SCRA attended to two categories of foreigners: 323 Section 24 Refugee Permit Holders. SCRA attended to 112 cases Retain status because they still need international protection: 51 Intention to withdraw (claim to asylum is no longer valid or applicable due to improvement of conditions in country of origin or where the refugee has re- availed himself to his country of origin 35 (SCRA is in the process of withdrawing their refugee status). Certification granted (indefinite refugee status was granted) : 6 Certification applied (applied to remain refugee indefinitely): 19 PR holder (Granted certification allowing to apply for Permanent Residence that was granted): 1 211 cases still need to be attended: 9

REVIEW OF REFUGEE STATUS DETERMINATION OFFICERS DECISIONS [sec 24(3)(b)] - MANIFESTLY UNFOUNDED, ABUSIVE OR FRAUDULENT o The Backlog of RSDO decisions to be reviewed. Active sec 24(3)(b) cases at RROs Site Cape Town Durban Musina Port Elizabeth Desmond Tutu Grand Total o Sec 24(3)(b) cases reviewed by SCRA. Total 2413 1143 560 121 24312 28549 Site Referred back Set Aside Upheld Grand Total Cape Town Desmond Tutu Durban Musina Port Elizabeth SCRA-RAB Grand Total 10 876 247 96 21 60 1310 1 58 69 2029 345 186 26 50 2637 10144 1094 109 202 181 11788 13049 1686 391 249 291 15735 10

STATUS OF APPLICATIONS FOR CERTIFICATION o Currently the SCRA has a backlog of 6 231 applications for certification to consider. YEAR RECEIVED CONSIDERED BACKLOG 2008 1405 631 774 2009 2587 1939 648 2010 2011 2552 2551 1412 1806 1140 2012 2013 1749 1228 1210 539 2014 1534 1857 -323 2015 2016 1390 1223 306 1084 2017 780 1550 -770 2018 388 462 -74 2019 2020TOTAL 2395 890 988 1356 1407 466 20672 14441 6231 632 596 292 931 745 11

SCRAS ACTION PLAN SCRA has the following action plan to eradicate the backlog Authority has been granted for the appointment of 4 additional SCRA members for a duration of 24 months o 1 x member placed in CT RRO servicing PE RRO as well o 1 x member placed in Durban RRO, and o 2 x members placed at DT RRO 2 vacant posts are in the process of being filled for a duration of five years with members stationed at SCRA s offices in Pretoria, With the implementation of the new Amendment Act, SCRA is no longer required to function as a quorum, it will be able to attend to a greater number of backlog matters and, with the recommended backlog structure, the backlog should last for 24 months with the possibility of extending it with a further 12 months. 12

CHALLENGES CHALLENGES Covid 19 Restrictions: o SCRA and Refugee Reception Offices not fully functional with staff operating on rotational basis. The administrative component of SCRA at its Head Office needs to be fully capacitated to support the workload to be reviewed by SCRA. SCRA has engaged with DHA in this regard. SCRA support at RROs must be capacitated to provide support to SCRA members deployed at each RRO. The respective RROs to provide administrative support until additional human recourses can be acquired by HR (provision of Interns). File contents must be available to review applications. Pro-active review of applications will reduce litigation and effective instructions on NOMs served may reduce abuse of judicial system. Upgrading of SCRA IT infrastructure and the availability of enabling tools of trade such as computers and office equipment will be needed once SCRA is fully capacitated. SCRA s network approved for upgrade and awaiting delivery of computers. Physical space available for required personnel will not be conducive to compliance with current Covid-19 restrictions. Officials work on rotational basis to mitigate risk and comply to social distancing. SCRA members operate at full capacity as each has its own office. SCRA has requested instillation of desk protective screens from DHA

POSITIVE ASPECTS POSITIVE ASPECTS Minister approved the appointment of 6 SCRA members o 4 on 2 year contracts, with two members already appointed o 2 on five year contract During the lockdown SCRA reviewed 15 735 section 24(3)(b) cases. SCRA managed to audit its whole registry allowing the SCRA to know precisely the status of each application for certification The SCRA continued eradicating the backlog despite human resource challenges posed during Covid-19