Tag: Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa

Sad fate of Nigerians suffering human rights abuses in South Africa

On a chilly Thursday morning in October 2015, Emmanuel Okechukwu Osita, 56, stirred from the warmth of his bed around 4.15 am to brave the cold and fierce security detail  at the South African Ministry of Home Affairs Refugee Reception Centre. Located in Johannes Ramokhoase Street in Marabstad, Pretoria, the country’s political capital, the refugee centre represented his only hope and access to his South African dream.

Hence, clad in a black sweater, faded blue jeans and worn-out trainers, Osita, a Nigerian seeking asylum in South Africa, set out of his Johannesburg residence to keep his appointment at the refugee centre.

At precisely 4:30am, Osita joined a host of other Nigerians in chartered buses, leaving for Pretoria for the same purpose. They left in a convoy and 45 minutes later, the motorcade revved to a stop in Marabastad, Pretoria. Osita and fellow asylum seekers arrived into a larger crowd of asylum seekers, who had queued up 30 minutes earlier for the same purpose.

However, because he could not have the patience to queue at the tail end of the crowd, Osita jumped queue and went straight to the entrance seeking preferential treatment. He hoped his graying beard and moustache would attract the sympathy of the guards manning the centre and controlling the crowd.

To his chagrin, Osita was not only embarrassed by his action, he received hot slaps from the South African guards manning the gates of the refugee centre. Afterwards, he was dragged through the crowd by two hefty security guards to the tail end of the queue.

By the time Osita was hurled to the ground by the guards, he was dizzy and weak from their assault. Few minutes after he was assaulted and dumped on the ground, the 56-year-old

rose to a sitting position; he rubbed his cheeks miserably, thereby smearing his face with the tears streaming down from his eyes. When this reporter approached him to speak to him, Osita stared emptily into the distance and sobbed disconsolately. By the time he gathered his wits together, he muttered: “How can Africans treat their fellow Africans in this manner?”

Osita’s fate symbolises a familiar narrative of the abuses suffered by thousands of Africans, including Nigerians, applying for asylum and residence permit at the South African Ministry of Home Affairs Refugee Reception Centre.

Every day, asylum seekers in South Africa are forced to endure the kind of rough treatment meted out to Osita by the South African guards at the Refugee Reception Centre after the expiration of their visas. The asylum seekers, who are usually between 18 and 60 years of age, arrive in South Africa from their native countries, including Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe and Cameroon.

For the foreigners, it is a weekly exercise meant for the fittest. When The Nation first visited the Refugee Reception Centre, a crowd of Nigerians besieged the building, seeking to gain entrance in order to legitimise their refugee status and obtain residence permit.

As the crowd surged like an ocean tide, a set of stern-looking security officers, employed by the Home Affairs Ministry to guard the Refugee Reception Centre, used electric batons and seven-foot long horsewhips to beat back the crowd. Some of the applicants fell out of the queue in fear of being flogged by the security guards; others determinedly stuck to their positions and braved the lashes in their desperation to legitimise their stay in South Africa.

Visibly clueless on how they could control the chaotic crowd, the security guards ordered the refugees to squat and sit on the bare ground. Some of them, who defied the order to sit on the ground, were slapped and flogged by the security officers before they were thrown out of the line. Others complied without the courage to protest.

 

Aduro, the war for refugee status

Like Osita, Moses Adeyinka, 24, is an uneducated artisan and had little means of sustenance while he was in Nigeria. He left for South Africa last December in search of the proverbial greener pasture. On arrival in Johannesburg, he found the city to be greener than Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, where he was based before he travelled.

His visitor’s visa was useful for only three months without work permit. Adeyinka however, does not intend to return to Nigeria soon having started to eke out a living as an apprentice at a barber’s shop in Yeoville Municipal.

Adeyinka is paying R1,000 ($69.4, N13,809.57) monthly for a room sublet to him by his friends, who rented a three-bedroom apartment in Yeoville Municipal. Although, he seems to be comfortable living with his friends at the moment, Adeyinka plans to rent a new apartment in order to have his privacy.

However, he needs to change his visa status and become a refugee to achieve his dream of staying in South Africa, which is why he applied for asylum in the country. After his bid to gain access into the office and personally apply for the asylum failed, Adeyinka became desperate. This is because he faces deportation, except he can get the permit in time in order to guarantee his continuous stay in his host country.

Adeyinka was among the crowd of Nigerian youths that besieged the gates of the refugee centre on October 22, 2015 struggling to gain access into the building to obtain the residence permit. Eventually, he managed to enter the building but he suffered bodily harm after he received lashes of horsewhip from the security guards at the gate.

By the time he came out of the asylum office around 4pm, Adeyinka had scars on different parts of his body. Sadly, despite his struggle to get into the building to file his asylum application, Adeyinka left without accomplishing the task. He left the refugee centre heart-broken. He was told to check back on another date for a fresh application because he could not afford the tip (bribe) requested by the officials to fast-track his application.

For him, coming back is not the problem; but, the accessibility to the Refugee Reception Centre remains his greatest challenge. “The struggle continues,” said Adeyinka as he moved westward the refugee centre in company of his friends whose asylum applications were turned down. “We don’t have other options; we have to come back for another round of beating and struggle,” he said.

 

Aduro, the legal permit

Although it is officially known as S22 Permit in South Africa, Nigerian asylum seekers call it Aduro – in Yoruba parlance, this literally translates to “We will stay.” With the permit, foreigners have legal rights to move freely in South Africa after the expiration of their visas. But, the document does not guarantee them an access to decent employment and other essential social services.

Without the permit, free movement within South Africa becomes difficult for foreigners. Besides, refugees who do not have the document are tagged Mulungu, a Zulu word which simply means “unwelcome foreigners” (although, Mulungu is also an offensive word used to call the white South Africans).

To get the stay permit, asylum seekers pay as high as R2,500  ($155, N30,700) to agents, who are mostly South Africans. Although the permit is given free of charge to asylum seekers who do not engage agents to assist them in getting it, it may take such applicants longer time to see the immigration officials for interview.

The agents pay R500 ($31) or higher as bribe to their contact immigration officers to hasten the process. This will facilitate stress-free interviews and accelerate the issuance of the permit.

Asylum seekers who pay for the permit are granted a three or six-month stay depending on the discretion of each immigration officer. The permit is renewable after its expiration but the immigration officers reserve the rights to grant extension of stay or terminate it.

 

Reasons for seeking Aduro

For most Nigerians residing in South Africa, socio-economic factors are major reasons why they leave the country. The abundance of basic infrastructure and better living conditions in South Africa are the major reasons why many Nigerian asylum seekers do not want to return after their visit to South Africa.

After exceeding the legitimate period granted them for their visit, most Nigerians in South Africa apply to become refugees. The Nation findings showed that 85 per cent of Nigerians seeking asylum in South Africa gave Boko Haram insurgency as alibi for their refugee status. They cited family problems, economic hardship and religious persecution as reasons for seeking asylum.

But even though the South African government grants asylum seekers temporary permit to reside in the country, the document prohibits the refugees from enjoying any decent employment.

Many of the Nigerians seeking asylum in South Africa engage in menial jobs, including street trading to survive. A few others resort to illicit businesses such as drug peddling and Internet fraud for their livelihood.

 

Revolt by the refugees

On Thursday, November 5, 2015, hell was let loose at the Refugee Reception Centre following  hot arguments between some frustrated Nigerian asylum seekers and South African immigration officers. The confusion was caused by the preferential treatment accorded some applicants, who allegedly bribed the officials.

This reporter, who went undercover into the centre, watched as security guards and immigration officials led different groups of asylum applicants who paid bribe, to quicken their interviews.

Hundreds of applicants who could not afford to bribe the officials to hasten their interviews were ordered to sit on the ground in an open space. They watched helplessly as the guards and immigration officials led those who were able to do so into the interview section.

After sitting in the sun for four hours without doing anything, the asylum seekers rose in protest against the preferential treatment accorded their fellow refugees by officials. Arguments ensued and pandemonium broke out. The asylum seekers engaged the security guards and immigration officials in a free-for-all, leaving scores injured.

The situation was brought under control by dozens of policemen, who moved to the scene with about 100 vans and 10 helicopters. Some of the troublemakers were arrested by the police at the scene and whisked away.

An immigration officer, who identified himself as Japheth, said the riot was started by asylum seekers whose applications were refused based on unbelievable stories. He said many of the rejected asylum seekers cited Boko Haram insurgency as reason to become refugees. The South African government, he said, has a plan to deport more than 50,000 Nigerians who used Boko Haram insurgency as excuse to live in South Africa.

He said: “We don’t need this crowd to come here every week to renew or apply for asylum permit. We know what is going on in Nigeria. The Boko Haram is limited to the Northern part, but majority of Nigerians asylum seekers, who want to become refugees here did not live in the Northern part. We have started to reject people who are using Boko Haram as reason for becoming a refugee here.”

 

‘Make a plan’ the South African police parlance

“We don’t deserve this bad treatment,” said Caroline, a 26-year-old nursing mother, as she watched security guards whip fellow asylum seekers from Nigeria into line to control the crowd.

Caroline’s permit had just been extended for three months but she sat opposite the building with a baby strapped to her chest. She was waiting for her boyfriend, identified as Dennis, who was still struggling to get into the refugee centre.

Her four-month-old baby boy cried continuously in apparent discomfort after the struggle his mother just put him through. As Caroline made efforts to lull her baby to sleep, she spotted Dennis being whisked to a waiting police van. She screamed as her boyfriend received slaps from two hefty security guards, who held Dennis’ trouser firmly by the waistline. Before Dennis was hurled into the police van, Caroline ran to the scene to intercede but she was snubbed by the policemen, who quickly locked up Dennis in the mini-cell attached to the vehicle.

Dennis’ offence was that he attempted to shunt his way into the long queue of asylum seekers. The security guards picked him up when he was pushed out of the line by others in the queue and whisked him away. Few minutes later, he returned to the scene to force his way into the refugee centre. He was released after he “made a plan” with the police.

“Make a plan” is a simple expression used by the South African police to ask for a bribe from the asylum seekers. The “plan” starts from R300 and can go as high as R500 depending on the gravity of the offence and discretion of the policemen.

 

Aduro as a goldmine for South African officials

Investigation by The Nation showed that the refugees’ predicament has become a goldmine for some South African police and immigration officers who smile to the bank daily, as they profit from indiscriminate arrest of migrants living without refugee permits.

“There has been increase in street raid of foreigners by the police in recent times,” Jubril Mustapha, a Nigerian migrant living in Randburg, Johannesburg, said. The police, he said, engage in mass arrest of foreigners and ask for their permits. According to Jubril, immigrants whose visas and permits have expired are arrested by corrupt officers of the South African police and taken to quiet destinations to “make a plan.”

He said: “My house has been raided several times by different sets of the policemen, who usually raid foreigners with expired permit. Each time they arrest us, they would take us to quiet locations to negotiate our freedom. On each occasion, we pay money to get ourselves freed. I personally pay R300 to regain my freedom the last time I was arrested, because I did not want them take me to the deportation camp.

Foreigners, who refuse to bribe South African police after their arrest, risk being detained for long hours at the police station. The extreme punishment for failing to “make a plan” is deportation, which many migrants always want to avoid.

But Adeleke Moshood, 25, was not so lucky. He was arrested in Sunnyside area of Pretoria in March by two policemen, who raided the two-bedroom apartment in which he stayed with five other Nigerians. Having over-stayed his visit for four months and without plans to return to Nigeria, Adeleke could not get opportunity to apply for menial work, because he had no legal work permit.

However, he sought a livelihood by selling local herbs and gins, which he ordered from Nigeria. His profit from the business, which ranged between R600 and R800 monthly, was spent on rent and feeding. In a sweep of his residence, Adeleke was arrested and asked to “make a plan” of R1,500 for his release. His inability to make the payment led to his detention for two months at Lindela, South Africa’s deportation camp, before his family in Nigeria eventually sent flight ticket for his return.

 

The road to Lindela

Lindela is South Africa’s Repatriation Centre, where undocumented migrants of both gender are camped before deportation. It is located in Krugersdorp in Johannesburg and filled with asylum seekers who have lost their bid for asylum. The camp is packed with more than 6,000 detainees in a day, which makes it congested all the time. The bulk of the inmates are Africans from countries such as Nigeria, Zimbabwe, DR Congo, Liberia and Mozambique, among others.

After registration, the inmates are corralled into rooms fitted with iron bunks, with some having tattered mattresses and pillows. The deportees are welcomed by drooling dogs and unfriendly armed security guards, who yell orders as the inmates are marshalled to the admissions desk.

Despite its modern design, inmates say bed space is a privilege in Lindela, especially in the male wing of the camp, which is possibly occupied by about 5,000 inmates at a time. A single room can contain up to 18 inmates but some deportees, who spoke to this reporter, said there could be more than 60 inmates cramped in a single room at a time whenever there was mass arrest.

A former Nigerian detainee, Daniel Oladepo, said: “We were almost 60 in the room I stayed. Nobody had a permanent bed space; the first set of people who returned to the room early would sleep properly. Anyone who returned late would manage the little space left on the floor.”

The Nation gathered that most of toilets in the camp do not have functioning flushing systems that could make the inmates use them with ease. This poses health challenges to the detainees, who prefer to ease themselves indiscriminately. With inadequate health services in the camp, the inmates usually face dire health conditions and unhygienic problems.”

Dining time is irregular in the camp, with the first meal being served late in the morning. For most of the inmates, Lindela is their last location before being deported from South Africa. But, right inside the camp, The Nation gathered that some of the detainees can negotiate their freedom with immigration officials and security guards.

“When I was there, I knew people who were asked to pay R500 for their freedom,” said Adeagbo, who was deported last year.

 

Abuse of human rights of the refugees and asylum seekers

Article 1(A)(2) of the United Nations Refugee Convention of 1951 classifies a refugee as any person who, “owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it.”

The human rights abuse by South African officials is not a recent phenomenon, according to the former chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Diaspora, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa. To the ex-legislator, cases of human rights abuses in South Africa seem to have become norm, which Nigerian officials are afraid to confront.

“If we know how many Nigerians have died in the hands of South African officials in the last three years, you would know that these cases of human rights abuse are not new. As long as Nigeria does not intervene in cases like these on behalf of its citizens, South Africa will continue to have freedom to infringe on our citizens’ rights. Just a week ago, another Nigerian was gruesomely murdered in broad daylight by yet to be identified South Africans. We have heard no word from the Nigerian embassy there and that is how the matter would just die down like that.”

Dabiri-Erewa said Nigerians must respect the law of their host countries, but she described as “pathetic and inhuman” the maltreatment of Nigerians outside the country. She urged the Federal Government to take decisive action and intervene, adding that the “immoral action” would continue if the Nigerian officials do not take up the responsibility.

“We urge non-governmental organisations (NGOs) on human rights issues and African Union (AU) to intervene. I hope this will provoke necessary action from our officials to look into the matter,” she said.

Adetokunbo Mumuni, Executive Director, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), a non-governmental organisation (NGO), told The Nation that South African authorities have failed to comply with international human rights obligations by blatantly refusing to address the refugees’ plight.

“SERAP strongly condemns the continuous unjustified abuse of migrants by South African policemen. SERAP is reminding South African authorities that all persons in South Africa share a certain set of basic human rights under international law, regardless of their immigration status. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights confers the great majority of the rights they enumerate to everyone. The declaration enjoins countries, including South Africa, to respect and ensure the rights they set out to all the individuals within their territory without discrimination,” he said. SERAP urged President Muhammadu Buhari to engage the South African government on human rights violations against Nigerians, while calling on the African Union to reprimand South Africa for maltreating asylum seekers.

 

South Africa’s silent response

Last month, The Nation contacted the South African government through its embassy in Nigeria for comment on the allegations by the asylum seekers. To this end, a letter dated December 11, 2015 was sent to the South African High Commission in Lagos.

The letter was physically delivered at the embassy by our reporter. It was acknowledged and received on behalf of the High Commissioner by a top officer of the embassy, who declined to give her name.

Two days after, the embassy called our reporter and re-confirmed receipt of the letter. The caller explained that the letter had been dispatched to Abuja for the High Commissioner’s response.

It’s over seven weeks since The Nation requested for the embassy’s response but there has been no comment from the High Commissioner or any official of the South African embassy.

Subsequent efforts by The Nation to reach the Nigerian authorities in South Africa have been unsuccessful. When The Nation called the Nigerian High Commission in Johannesburg last November, an official told our reporter to send the complaint via email to the High Commissioner. The email was sent to the High Commissioner on November 19, 2015, but there has been no response to the message.