NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
FOR WRITTEN REPLY
QUESTION 242
DATE OF PUBLICATION: Friday, 07 June 2013
INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO 17 of 2013
Mr K A Sinclair (COPE-NC) to ask the Minister of Home Affairs:
(1) Whether her Department will provide details of the (a) number of
asylum seekers who visited the offices of her Department from 1 June
2012 to 31 May 2013 and (b) country of origin of these asylum seekers;
if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details;
(2) whether her Department has found the turn-around time for asylum
seekers at each Home Affairs office to be satisfactory; if not, what
is the position in this regard; if so, what steps is her Department
taking to enhance the effectiveness at each office in this regard?
CW339E
REPLY:
(1)(a) & (b) Asylum seekers who visited the Refugee Reception Offices
(RROs) consist of 3 key categories, namely:
⢠New asylum seekers. The total number of new asylum seekers
who visited the RROs in the period 01 June 2012 to 31 May
2013 is attached herewith as Annexure A.
⢠Reviewing of status of an asylum seeker. The total number
of asylum seekers who visited the RROs for this purpose in
the period 01 June 2012 to 31 May 2013 is attached herewith
as Annexure B.
⢠Adjudicated cases. The total number of asylum seekers who
visited the RROs for this purpose in the period 01 June
2012 to 31 May 2013 is attached herewith as Annexure C.
(2) There have been various initiatives to improve efficiencies and
quality of work at RROs and this work is on-going. Some
successes include the fast tracking of new asylum seekers
allowing for faster determination of status and the introduction
of nationality specific days to assist with better crowd
management.