Cape Town Refugee Centre

WHAT IS A REFUGEE?

The Refugee Act recognises two definitions of Refugees

People with a well-founded fear of persecution

The first definition is taken from the 1951 UN Refugee Convention. It provides protection to persons fleeing their country of origin because of a well-founded fear of persecution by their government or by other non-state actors that the government is unable to stop.

The term “well-founded fear of persecution” refers to your particular experiences and circumstances instead of the general situation in your country of origin. A person’s very personal response to the prospect of return to your country of origin will be assessed together with available information on the conditions in your country of origin to determine whether you will be subject to danger if you are forced to return.

People who fled their country of origin due to threats to the public order:

The second definition is adopted from the Organisation of African Unity Refugee Convention and provides protection to persons who were forced to flee because of violence, war and civil disturbances in their country of origin.

The spouse or dependant of a recognised refugee is also entitled to refugee status, even if the individual claim was rejected.

WHO IS NOT A REFUGEE

The definition of a refugee denotes a specific category of person and therefore excludes all other people who do not fit into any of the categories set out above. For example, an individual who leaves their country due to purely economic hardship is not a refugee. Rather, such an individual is an economic migrant and such an individual, once identified, will not be able to claim refugee protection. In these cases, he or she should apply for either a work permit or a study or visitor’s visa.

Who May be excluded from recognition as a Refugee?

A Person may be excluded from receiving refugee status if the individual has:

have committed a crime against humanity, a war crime or a crime against peace;
have committed a serious non-political crime outside of SA, which if committed in SA would be punishable by imprisonment
He or she has already received protection (refugee status) in another country.

WHO COULD LOOSE REFUGEE STATUS?

A person could lose his or her refugee status if he or she:-

voluntarily obtain the protection or nationality of your country of origin,
obtain the nationality of a new country or voluntarily return to the country left in fear and take up residence there with the intention of settling permanently.

A person could lose his or her refugee status because of events in his/her country of origin, such as:

when there is no longer a threat to you in your country of origin
if he or she take on the protection of his or her country of origin because the circumstances in that country have changed

For furtherinformation on Refugees and the South African Law go the links below