NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
FOR WRITTEN REPLY
QUESTION 7
DATE OF PUBLICATION: Thursday, 13 February 2014
INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO 1 of 2014
Mr M S F de Freitas (DA) to ask the Minister of Home Affairs:
(a) What training is provided for refugee status determination officers for
the adjudication of applications and (b) is such training mandatory?
NW7E
REPLY:
a) Training provided to refugee status determination officers is in the
form of the Skills Programme: Asylum Seeker Management that is
registered with the Public Service Sector Education and Training
Authority. The purpose of the Skills Programme: Asylum Seeker Management
is to provide the refugee status determination officers with the
necessary competencies to make quality status determination decisions
that consider both the stateâs legal as well as humanitarian
obligations. This skills programme consists of 9 (nine) unit standards
that amount to 62 credits on the National Qualifications Framework Level
5 and comprises theory (30%) and practical (70%) components. The
learners are expected to compile a portfolio of evidence for each unit
standard during the practical component of the training. The Skills
Programme: Asylum Seeker Management is tabulated hereunder:
|SKILLS PROGRAMME: ASYLUM SEEKER MANAGEMENT |
|UNIT STANDARD TITLE |CREDITS |
|Adjudicate a claim for refugee status |10 |
|Refugee services(Legislation) |10 |
|Investigative interview |5 |
|Human rights and democracy |12 |
|Internal and external client relations |6 |
|Fingerprinting for identification purposes |5 |
|Counter-Xenophobia and non-racism in the work |4 |
|environment | |
|Conduct lawful arrest |4 |
|Conduct lawful search and seizure |6 |
b) It is mandatory that all newly appointed refugee status determination
officers undergo training in the Skills Programme: Asylum Seeker
Management before they can assume duty at a refugee reception office.