The Department of Home Affairs says it’s checked their status and is now trying to get them to return to their places of residence in South Africa.

The statement from the Department of Home Affairs says the process of verifying the status of protestors was completed while they were being held at the Lindela Repatriation Centre.

They were taken there after police removed them from the parking lot and grounds of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees.

The attempt says the protestors are legally here some as documented refugees and others as documented asylum seekers.

Some have returned voluntarily to their places of residence in South Africa, despite fears of xenophobic attacks which caused the protest.

The department says it’s encouraging other foreign nationals to follow suit. 

The post Refugees protesting outside UNHCR offices in Pretoria are all legally in South Africa appeared first on Jean-Jacques Cornish.

Around the world international organizations,  governments and civil organizations look at how to improve the lot of the sixty-eight-and-a-half million forcible displaced people. That’e more than were driven from their homes by World War 2.

A third of these are Africans.

Every minute,  around the world, 20 people leave behind everything they own to escape war.

A third of them cross borders seeking shelter and safety.

More than half are displaced in their own countries.

South Africa is the new home to 88 000 refugees.

On June 20, the world looks at how best to deal with the plight of these people.

The Department of Home Affairs will be marking World Refugee Day with the the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, the Pan African Parliament and the African Peer Review Mechanism.

The post Every minute around the world 20 people abandon everything to escape war appeared first on Jean-Jacques Cornish.