Cape Town Refugee Crisis

Following a Court order to vacate the church and the central business district they have been occupying over the last four months, the foreigners then moved on to occupy a police station and the surroundings of this law enforcement facility. The government and several NGO’S have been scrambling to find a speedy solution to the crisis. Refugees now say they no longer want to remain in South Africa anymore and call for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) to repatriate them to a third country. However, the UNHCR has reiterated it will not be able to resettle this large group of refugees because the move might lead to thousands of other foreigners living in South Africa demand to be included in the repatriation programme. To assist us on this we are joined by: • Papy Sukami, Congolese human rights activist• Jo Vearey is an Associate Professor with the African Centre for Migration & Society, University of the Witwatersrand. • Ruvi Ziegler is Associate Professor in International Refugee Law at the University of Reading, School of Law