PE refugee centre to reopen

The Refugee Reception Office in Port Elizabeth has been moved to a new building and will be reopened later this year - after being closed for almost eight years.

This was announced by Home Affairs deputy minister Fatima Chohan in Port Elizabeth on Thursday.

The office has been moved from Stone Street, North End to Gibaud Road, Sydenham.

“We have started to install state-of-the-art equipment with surveillance cameras in order to curb corrupt activities. We have learned from our mistakes in the past,” she said.

Chohan said the office would be reopened in October.

Refugee reception offices are meant to receive and process new applications from people who are seeking asylum in South Africa.

They also renew asylum-seeker permits while the applicants await decisions on their permanent status.

The reopening will bring much relief to thousands of asylum seekers living in and around the Nelson Mandela Bay who had to travel to other provinces to obtain these services.

Port Elizabeth Refugee Reception Office manager Sabelo Ngxitho said currently they only process applications that were already filed years ago.

“But when we re-open, we will processing both new and old applications,” he said.

Chohan’s visit to Port Elizabeth comes in the wake of World Refugee Day on Wednesday.

The North End office was run by Home Affairs, which was instructed by the Supreme Court of Appeal to reopen the office in February 2016.

But at the time, Home Affairs identified a shortage of funds, shortage of staff and technical challenges in the delay of reopening the office.