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| Asylum seekers line up body-to-body at the entrance of the Desmond Tutu Refugee Reception Centre in Pretoria. (Picture courtesy: GroundUp) |
On three
occasions, 2014, 2016 and 2017, I decided to record my experiences on the dates
of renewal of my asylum seeker permit in Pretoria. I saved those short notes in
my emails.
I used my
phone to record my experiences. Phones are not allowed at the home affairs
immigration services centres, so I had to be secretive about it.
I did the
recordings mainly so that I could, after some time, look back and see if things
had changed – for better or worse – but also to reflect on how I was feeling at
each particular time.
These records
were made as and when they happened. I have shown the times on which I recorded
each moment, and, in some instances, I record my inner feelings and thoughts about
the events as they happened.
Nothing has
been polished from these memories, except minor spelling corrections. I retrieved,
and publish, them as they were recorded. Expect raw emotions.
The recordings
begin below.
-----------
Home
Affairs, recorded 29 July 2014
Arrived
around 8 am
It’s now 11:13
and many of us are still outside, standing.
That means
we've been on out feet for over 2 hours now.
Even women
carrying small babies have to stand and wait
Same applies
to pregnant women
I feel
sleep whilst standing
My feet are
killing me.
This is
cruel treatment
Nobody
cares about us
No one is
telling us anything
Zero!
When we move,
we move just about two metres and stop for a whole hour.
12:00 and
we're still standing on the line
Now it's 12:35.
They allowed all the women in, as usual.
Now the men
follow
I had a
very brief nap just a few minutes ago
I sat on an
old air-conditioner and fell asleep
1500. Done
now.
Home Affairs, recorded 25 July 2016
0400 - Alarm rang. Foolishly pressed snooze
button
0435 - Woke up
0655 - Arrived at Noord taxi rank
0713 - Still at Noord. Extremely cold
today. Light drizzle falling. Hoping Pretoria won't have rain. Queue so slow
here
0749 - Finally getting into taxi, leaving
for Pretoria
0824 - Still on the road!
0914 - Arrive in Marabastad. Put asylum
paper in box. Already there's lots of people
Processes don't get explained to people
here.
0944 - Cold here!
1004 - My heart sinks as I see this lady
who's carrying her little child. She's been standing here in the cold and dusty
wind, with no seats! Carrying her child, and she seems to be all alone, with no
one to help her. She seems to be Muslim, unless the 'hood' on her head, showing
her face, is just for the cold. But she's wearing jeans, and I'm not sure if
Muslim women are allowed to.
Home Affairs clearly doesn't care about the
children and their rights
1115 - Calling of names. Mainly seems to
be Congo
1254 - Names get called. But few of them.
Still a large group waiting in the dusty and filthy wind. The woman and her
child are still here, still standing. There are no seats! There are other women
with their children as well. Some of the women have decided to seat on the
dust.
1301 - I notice there's a young school
girl. Primary school. Wearing school uniform - green blazer, grey trousers,
white shirt, green and red tie.
1323 - The little child's mother finally
gets her asylum paper. Leaves. Yes, that makes me feel better. I'd have felt
very sad if I had left earlier than her.
But some mothers still here. Pregnant
women too. People with disabilities as well. Imagine them standing since very
early in the morning. Bear in mind the time on which they had to wake up!
1341 - Finally I receive mine. Renewable
23 January 2017
But I still leave a big, frustrated crowd
Home Affairs 23 January 2017
8am: Arrived at Marabastad. This time we
go inside. We wait inside premises. Many people standing outside already. Not
sure how the lines go because there's no one to direct. But what happens if it
rains?
8:21am: There are different lines here.
Nobody explains to us which is which! The Marabastad HA office this time is
enclosed by a high wall. I guess it was a constant embarrassment for the
minister to have people waiting outside the whole day. Now they're keeping the
"dirty laundry" inside. This way no one gets curious about the
problems at HA (for asylum applicants).
8:42: We're busy changing lines, not
knowing where to go. And nobody fucking explains shit to us!!!
8:50: Sitting on the concrete benches.
I notice that no special arrangements have
been made for those with small babies and for school children. They may be here
the whole day.
9:07: I see they have some "Automated
Asylum Seeker Booking Terminal" machines. I don't know whether they're a
new thing or they've always been used. I'm not sure if it will help speed up
the renewing process, but it seems to do same time printouts for some people.
9:16: My paper has gone through the
terminal. They printed out a slip which says, "Refer to Meeter
Greeter." It also has "Report Meeter Greeter, Reason: Status:
Unfounded."
9:45: Standing in a very, very, long
queue! And I need the toilet but it's a bit far from where I am. Interesting
that pregnant women haven't been specially catered for. I'd have thought the
government cares about the rights of pregnant women. Anyway...
10:03: Now we're boiling in the sun! The
line isn't moving an inch! I wonder how things could turn out if it just
rained. It would be chaos!
10:32: Inside now: "Extension Permit
Area." It somehow happened that there was chaos in the front (in the line
outside) and one of the officials cut the line and allowed us who were far
behind to go through, telling the others to sort themselves out and make a
straight line.
11:03: But even inside it's chaos. No one
knows how the queue moves. And some (many) of the officials are horribly rude
to us!
11:20:
Done. Until 24/07/2017
NB: For the latest update on my experiences at the South African immigration services, see Chronicles of an ungrateful foreigner: Would Archbishop Desmond Tutu be proud?
