Failed asylum seekers in South Africa: policy and practice
The return of failed asylum seekers has become an issue of concern for asylum states who must balance immigration control measures while upholding refugee protection obligations. The 1994 transition to democracy in South Africa saw the state establish a strong urban refugee protection framework bas...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of the Western Cape
2021-04-01
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| Series: | African Human Mobility Review |
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| Online Access: | https://epubs.ac.za/index.php/ahmr/article/view/742 |
| _version_ | 1818546074631012352 |
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| author | Corey Johnson |
| author_facet | Corey Johnson |
| author_sort | Corey Johnson |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
The return of failed asylum seekers has become an issue of concern for asylum states who must balance immigration control measures while upholding refugee protection obligations. The 1994 transition to democracy in South Africa saw the state establish a strong urban refugee protection framework based on individualised refugee status determination processes, freedom of movement, and local integration. The refugee protection framework, although strong on paper, has suffered from a lack of implementation and has coexisted uneasily next to immigration control imperatives. This tension is further exacerbated by the post-1994 immigration regime which promotes a restrictive immigration policy with few options for low-skilled migrants who have turned to the asylum system as a means by which to legalise their stay, thus stretching capacity and conflating immigration control and refugee protection. This article provides a general overview of these issues, as well as an analysis of South Africa's policies to address failed asylum seekers. In doing so it explores the tension between formal human rights protections found in legislation and underlying immigration enforcement imperatives. The article finds that the conditions for an effective failed asylum seeker policy are not present and concludes with a discussion of some of the issues that need to be addressed to implement a more effective and rights-based policy.
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| first_indexed | 2024-12-12T07:48:16Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-10ef09a98558456ea3ca82d6fa8f48de |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2411-6955 2410-7972 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-12T07:48:16Z |
| publishDate | 2021-04-01 |
| publisher | University of the Western Cape |
| record_format | Article |
| series | African Human Mobility Review |
| spelling | doaj.art-10ef09a98558456ea3ca82d6fa8f48de2022-12-22T00:32:31ZengUniversity of the Western CapeAfrican Human Mobility Review2411-69552410-79722021-04-011210.14426/ahmr.v1i2.742Failed asylum seekers in South Africa: policy and practiceCorey Johnson0Scalabrini Institute for Human Mobility in Africa The return of failed asylum seekers has become an issue of concern for asylum states who must balance immigration control measures while upholding refugee protection obligations. The 1994 transition to democracy in South Africa saw the state establish a strong urban refugee protection framework based on individualised refugee status determination processes, freedom of movement, and local integration. The refugee protection framework, although strong on paper, has suffered from a lack of implementation and has coexisted uneasily next to immigration control imperatives. This tension is further exacerbated by the post-1994 immigration regime which promotes a restrictive immigration policy with few options for low-skilled migrants who have turned to the asylum system as a means by which to legalise their stay, thus stretching capacity and conflating immigration control and refugee protection. This article provides a general overview of these issues, as well as an analysis of South Africa's policies to address failed asylum seekers. In doing so it explores the tension between formal human rights protections found in legislation and underlying immigration enforcement imperatives. The article finds that the conditions for an effective failed asylum seeker policy are not present and concludes with a discussion of some of the issues that need to be addressed to implement a more effective and rights-based policy. https://epubs.ac.za/index.php/ahmr/article/view/742DeportattionDetentionIrregular migrationNon-refoulement |
| spellingShingle | Corey Johnson Failed asylum seekers in South Africa: policy and practice African Human Mobility Review Deportattion Detention Irregular migration Non-refoulement |
| title | Failed asylum seekers in South Africa: policy and practice |
| title_full | Failed asylum seekers in South Africa: policy and practice |
| title_fullStr | Failed asylum seekers in South Africa: policy and practice |
| title_full_unstemmed | Failed asylum seekers in South Africa: policy and practice |
| title_short | Failed asylum seekers in South Africa: policy and practice |
| title_sort | failed asylum seekers in south africa policy and practice |
| topic | Deportattion Detention Irregular migration Non-refoulement |
| url | https://epubs.ac.za/index.php/ahmr/article/view/742 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT coreyjohnson failedasylumseekersinsouthafricapolicyandpractice |