Tough border laws a two-edged sword
Attorneys speak up for families ‘ripped apart’ by new immigration regulations.
NEW immigration laws labelling foreigners as ‘undesirable persons’ should they overstay their visas, have ripped families apart with children as young as five being prevented from returning home.
This is according to Shepstone and Wylie Attorneys partner Niki Gerneke, who has been examining the implications of the revised regulations since it was introduced in May.
‘A woman who overstayed for 15 hours because she was lying sick in hospital, was banned for a year,’ said Gerneke.
Immigrants and visitors could be banned from South Africa for up to five years if their paperwork is not in accordance with the new law.
‘These unfortunate travellers receive a formal notice informing them they are not welcome back, but that they have 10 days to apply to our Director General of Home Affairs to have the decision reviewed.
‘What the notice omits to say, is that if they miss this deadline, they can still apply to have the Minister review the decision taken against them in terms of Section 30(1) of our immigration act,’ Gerneke explained.
‘As things have turned out, the immigration officials at our ports are currently not exercising any sort of discretion when dealing with foreigners that have overstayed their visas.
‘The fairly efficient turnaround on the reviews has been encouraging though.’
Fighting crimes
In August Home Affairs Director General Mkuseli Apleni said this is indeed a ‘complex matter’ with no intention to kill the tourism sector or South Africa’s economy.
The new regulations, he stated, was implemented to stop transnational crime syndicates from crossing SA borders, combat human trafficking and put an end to fraudulent activities.
Bogus asylum seekers were also highlighted as a major concern.
‘Abuse of the Refugees Act has been rife, with over 90% of applicants only seeking economic opportunities,’ said Apleni.
Deputy Dean in the Faculty of Commerce Administration and Law at the University of Zululand (Unizul), Irsshad Kaseeram, also pointed out that the law could reduce the high unemployment rate by ensuring only foreign nationals with scarce skills work in SA.
