Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber says the new online platform will help the department process asylum applications and prevent abuse of the system. Image credit supplied
Home Affairs plans to launch an online asylum registration system by 10 November, after its walk in approach overwhelmed refugee reception offices and sparked violent protests. Under the new online asylum registration model, people who want to apply for asylum for the first time will register their intention online before they visit an office.
Justice Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi, who chairs the inter ministerial committee on migration, announced the plan at a media briefing in Pretoria on Sunday. She said the committee welcomed the proposal from Home Affairs. Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber also spoke at the briefing.
How online asylum registration will work
First, applicants will register their intention to apply for asylum on an online platform. They must also submit their biometrics. Next, the system will issue a receipt with their details, a reference number and an appointment date at a refugee reception office.
For people who cannot register online, Home Affairs will offer assisted registration at every refugee reception office. In addition, people in police or immigration detention can ask for help through officials, legal representatives and civil society partners. This assistance will be available in the main languages.
According to Schreiber, Home Affairs will use the biometrics to confirm identities and check whether applicants have already had claims rejected. The system will also verify passports and other travel documents, and it will flag any other recorded offences. Schreiber said the department drew on its experience with the Electronic Travel Authorisation system to build the platform.
However, Kubayi stressed that the receipt is not refugee status or an asylum seeker visa. Instead, it serves as proof that a person has declared an intention to apply. Government will instruct border officials, inspectors and office staff not to arrest, detain or deport receipt holders simply because they lack a visa while their applications are pending.
There are strict limits, though. People whose asylum claims have been finally rejected cannot apply again. Similarly, applicants who miss their appointment without a valid reason will lose their application and face deportation.
Furthermore, Kubayi said deportations will continue, have not stopped and will not stop. She explained that the protection applies only to people who want to make a first asylum application.
Schreiber echoed that position. He said the Constitutional Court did not remove the right of Home Affairs to decide refugee applications. He added that if someone does not qualify, it is the department’s job to tell them so and deport them.
The plan follows a turbulent few weeks. On 28 September, Home Affairs issued a directive that told refugee reception offices to accept new asylum applications, including from people who entered the country illegally. The directive followed a Constitutional Court judgment on 7 July. Within days, crowds overwhelmed the offices, and protests turned violent in Durban and Soweto. As a result, Home Affairs withdrew the directive on Friday.
Meanwhile, Schreiber said the department faces a backlog of about 120 000 asylum appeals. He noted that Home Affairs cut the backlog by about 20 percent in the last financial year and brought in 74 advocates to help with appeals. By comparison, he said, only nine people handled appeals when the current administration took over.
Government also plans to ask the courts for a supervisory order to guide how it carries out the judgment. It wants time to build up staff, offices and processing capacity. Separately, a panel of Gauteng High Court judges will hear a related matter on asylum seekers on 29 October.
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