Refugees laud new reception centre

By Lesego Masemola

After just three months in operation, the new state-of-the-art refugee offices in Pretoria have already succeeded in making a good impression on many asylum seekers that have visited them for assistance.

This has brought much relief to hundreds of refugees who had become used to being turned away, and has also boosted the image of the Home Affairs Department which had become notorious for turning away hundreds of asylum seekers every day.

The centre, which is known as the Tshwane Interim Refugee Reception Office (Tirro), is aimed at alleviating the congestion at both Marabastad centre in Pretoria and Crown Mine centre in Joburg, and at eradicating corruption.

When the Pretoria News visited the multimillion-rand centre on Friday, asylum seekers said they were satisfied with the way it was operating.

The centre was specifically set up to assist those from the Southern African Development Community seeking permits.

At its launch, it was reported that it would be run by 100 officials who would process about 450 people a day, but according to current statistics the centre assists between 800 to 1 000 people from a crowd of about 1 500 that turns up every morning.

Asylum seekers said the centre was the answer to many of their problems, especially with regards to their safety. The long unco-ordinated queues at both Marabastad and Crown Mines had resulted in people being pick-pocketed, and in them paying bribes to officials in order to get assisted.

Zimbabwean Nomthandazo Mashungu, who lives in Joburg, said she was impressed after spending months of waking up early to be in queues at the Crown Mines centre.

“This centre is much better that that at Crown Mines where there were long queues and there was no order like there is here. It is my first time here now and everything is going well, and I have obtained my permit without any hassle,” she said.

Thembelani Sibanda, also from Zimbabwe, agreed with Mashungu.

“We are treated like humans here, and not abused by the officials. There is absolutely no problem here, the queues are still long but everybody gets the help they need. I came in yesterday and unfortunately there were too many of us, so I was told to come back early today and everything went well,” he said.

Joel Pingani, who complained of having been repeatedly mugged since 2007 while rushing for many mornings in succession to be first in the queue at the Marabastad centre, said the new centre was a big relief.

“Some officials are still verbally abusive towards us and do not treat us with respect, but overall it is not that bad. I am just glad that we are at least safe while queuing,” he said.

The department’s media relations director, Cleo Mosana, said the centre was operating efficiently.

“Tirro is so efficient, processing up to 800 applicants daily. No problems have been raised with us and the centre is operating according to our expectations,” she said. – Independent Online

This article was originally published on page 4 of Pretoria News on June 22, 2009