LGBT refugees are being denied asylum in South Africa, according to a report.
The report found that Home Affairs officials use sexual and/or gender minorities to justify denials.
It also found the use of derogatory language in official documentation.
A report released on Thursday by several civil society organisations has found evidence that LGBT refugees are being denied asylum in South Africa despite being, “. eligible for protection under international and domestic law”, GroundUp reports.
The authors of the report surveyed denial letters for 67 asylum applicants who had applied for asylum on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity (SOGI).
“A person who is gay would normally not be in the company of girls. That on its own, [sic] contradicts [the applicant’s] claim that he is gay. … In addition to that he claimed that he was in pain after he had been raped. Consequently he would not have chosen to be a gay if indeed he was in pain after that rape incident. … There is no credibility in this application. The application is fabricated. … Zambia is a Christian nation and as such the citizens of the country live by the Christian values. The applicant would not have become a gay if he was indeed a Christian. He would have adhered to those values.”
After feeling the pressure the WCED releases plan for unplaced learners
By Sisonke Mlamla
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Cape Town - After huge pressure from organisations including the Human Rights Commission, the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) has finally come up with a plan to place 2 550 learners that are not placed in schools.
The plan will see the provision of 29 mobile classrooms to schools, as well as additional teaching posts. By Friday the number of unplaced learners had been reduced to 1 712, the department said.
The plan comes after pressure groups, political parties, the SA Human Rights Commission and Legal Resources Centre demanded that the WCED make a plan to place learners in schools.
It’s World Immunisation Week, which reminds the globe that #VaccinesWork and improve everyone’s health across the planet. Immunisation prevents three million deaths a year and the uptake of new and underused vaccines is on the rise. The World Health Organization has called this week “an unprecedented opportunity” to build public trust in the value of vaccines.
For the 10th year, jazz will be celebrated as a force of peace on International Jazz Day on Saturday, 30 April. Why jazz, you ask? The United Nations says jazz is a “force for peace, unity, dialogue and enhanced cooperation among people, as well as an educational tool”. To mark the day there will be an international virtual concert as well as virtual masterclasses by leading artists.
Legal Resources Centre looking for a plan to place Cape learners
By Sisonke Mlamla
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Cape Town - The Legal Resources Centre (LRC) said it was in a process to request the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) to provide a detailed plan on measures to reduce high numbers of unplaced learners in the province, and to make sure that the placement of those learners does not result in overcrowding.
LRC spokesperson Thabo Ramphobole said they were gravely concerned about the increasingly high number of unplaced learners in schools in the province.
Ramphobole said the WCED has recently stated that they were working hard to place the remaining learners in schools, however they said they were concerned about the fact that those learners have missed a term, and counting of learning.