Invitation to the Commemoration of the World Refugee Day

The South African National NGO Coalition (SANGOCO) in collaboration with the City of Johannesburg Migrant Help Desk, the United Nations High Commission for Refugee, the Consortium for Refugees and Migrants in South Africa, the South African Council of Churches, the Central Methodist Church, the Coordinating Body of Refugee Communities, the Centre for Study of Violence and Reconciliation, Somafco X Trust and other organizations working with refugees, cordially invites you to the commemoration of World Refugee Day event which takes place as follows:

Date   : 20 June 2008
Time  : 11:00 – 14:00
Venue: 158 Loveday Street, Reception Room - Metro Building, Braamfontein-Johannesburg

A National Executive Committee’s member of the African National Congress will deliver the keynote address.

We would appreciate your presence at this event as we show solidarity with refugees not only in Johannesburg but also throughout the world.

Kindly RSVP to Samuel Baka  (011 403 7746 / 072 117 3853)

Yours sincerely,

Thembi Tshabalala
SANGOCO: Office Manager

WORLD REFUGEES DAY: INTRODUCTION

SANGOCO has traditionally built up a public and political profile as a civil society movement that champions the interests of the poor. The Speak Out on Poverty Hearings, and the pro-poor critiques and engagements with government have solidified this profile. Direct pro-poor political movements are restricted to the civil society arena, with the trade union movement, church organizations, community based initiatives and NGOs providing the political thrust for greater anti-poverty effort on the part of government. In this arena, SANGOCO continued promotion of the interests of the poor remains a critical pressure for addressing structural poverty. Increasing unemployment, inappropriate and faulty delivery frameworks, and an increasingly intransigent government on economic policy issues all contribute to an environment that is critical for organized pro-poor activity.

Asylum seekers in South Africa come from crisis regions further north passing through several states where they had or could have found protection, but chose South Africa because of its opportunities for individual development, employment and also independence from refugee camps.

Last year, the minister of the department of home affairs during her speech recognised the challenges they are facing in the department on one hand and in the country in the other hand. She has called her fellow countrymen and women to develop two core values – tolerance and acceptance - for a peaceful co-habitation with foreigners in general and asylum seekers and refugees in particular. She believed that “violence cannot be solution to our problems”.

In South Africa, there are no refugee camps but an urban-based refugee population based in the cities of Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, Cape Town and Port Elizabeth. Relatively high levels of xenophobia are present amongst South Africans. This has hampered the integration of refugees and asylum seekers into South African society. Foreigners have experienced discrimination from various service providers and the public.

A refugee however has the right to safe asylum, and should receive the same rights and basic services as any other foreigner who is a legal resident, including freedom of thought, of movement and freedom from torture and degrading treatment. Economic and social rights are equally applicable. Refugees should be given access to medical care, education and the right to work.

Looking how asylum seekers and refugees are ‘deliberately’ abused, it should be our duty to come with concrete ideas that will influence Refugee Policy Reform and assist the peaceful integration of asylum seekers and refugees in the South African Society as they currently are part of it, therefore they have not only the rights but also the responsibilities for the host nation, society and country.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON WORLD REFUGEE DAY

War, floods, earthquakes, drought and famine claim millions of lives worldwide every year.  Those who survive are often uprooted and forced to seek temporary shelter without access to clean water, adequate sanitation, or food.  Some remain in refugee camps indefinitely, enduring squalid conditions and severe health risks. Thus the refugee world becomes highly complex and need short, medium, long term and adequate solutions.

In the passed years, many countries and regions have been holding their own Refugee Days and even Weeks. One of the most widespread is Africa Refugee Day, which is celebrated on the 20th June in several countries.

This becomes a common way to express solidarity with Africa, which hosts the most refugees, and which traditionally has shown them great generosity, the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 55/76 on 4 December 2000. In this resolution, the General Assembly noted that 2001 marked the 50th anniversary of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, and that the Organization of African Unity (OAU) had agreed to have International Refugee Day coincide with Africa Refugee Day on 20 June. The Assembly therefore decided that, from 2001, 20 June would be celebrated as World Refugee Day. [Note: The OAU was replaced by the African Union on 9 July 2002.]

THE OBJECTIVE

The objectives of the Word Refugee Day’s celebration and campaign are:

• To mobilize people to hold their government accountable for the promises made to fight all kind of xenophobic and/or racist behaviours by protecting human and Refugee’s rights;
• To engage the media and the public to raise awareness on the Asylum Seekers and refugees’ documentation, rights and responsibilities;
• To assist asylum seeker and refugee communities with information on South African immigration laws and regulations; 
• To Initiate dialogues and communities re-integration and tolerance;
• To demand greater transparency from national, provincial and local government in the management of Refugee issues.

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