Asylum seekers at UNHRC offices in Tshwane defy court order

Scores of refugees who have been camping outside the offices of the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHRC) in Tshwane for more than four years say they will not leave the area despite a court ruling they be evicted. 

The high court in Pretoria recently ordered the eviction of the more than 200 asylum seekers who had built makeshift structures outside UNHRC, ordering them to be bussed to the Lindela Repatriation Centre in Krugersdorp where they will be housed for six months. The evictions were meant to have been completed by Wednesday, however the refugees refused to leave the pavement which has been their home since 2019. Some in the group were part of the Pretoria UNHCR protest in 2019 over xenophobia in South Africa.

Most of them fled their countries due to sociopolitical tensions. The majority are from the war-torn Democratic Republic of the Congo, while others are from Burundi, Kenya, Uganda and South Sudan. They have been demanding to be transported to a third country. 

In terms of the court order, they should have vacated the area by Wednesday but in the afternoon they were still there going about their normal activities while police looked on.

When the Sowetan team left the area, many were seen gathering around fire to prepare for supper.

Johnny Lowoso, 44, from DRC, has been living on the pavement since 2021.  His wife and two children joined him last year. He said the living conditions at Lindela were dire and medical care was not good. 

He said most of them want to be taken to a country where they will be safe from xenophobia, “but it's not true that we want to be relocated to the US or Europe”.

“No, no, going back home is not an option because it is not safe. I can’t go back to what I am fleeing from, the situation is still bad. Most of us want to be repatriated to a third country but authorities said this is impossible,” said Lowoso.

Both the department of home affairs and the UNHCR  told them some years ago that their demand to be taken to another country was unrealistic. They were then taken to Lindela after an agreement was made between home affairs and the UNHCR in November 2019.

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