A South African high court has dismissed an application by six undocumented Ethiopian and Somali migrants living in the country who sought protection from being prosecuted and deported to their home countries.
The six – four Ethiopians and two Somalis – had asked the court in Johannesburg to declare that their continued detention was unlawful and that they were entitled to remain in South Africa until their application for refugee status was determined.
They also asked the court to order that they are entitled to temporary asylum seeker permits.
The six migrants are being detained at the Modderbee and Boksburg correctional centres after they were arrested last year for allegedly entering and staying in South Africa irregularly.
The court, however, dismissed their application, saying a “mere expression of intention to apply for asylum does not entitle any person to be released from detention where such person is detained for contravening the Immigration Act”.
“A foreign national arrested, charged and detained pending a trial … is in the same position as any other accused charged with an offence and awaiting trial,” said judge Dunstan Mlambo.
“It must be in the interest of any country desiring to protect its borders to expect anyone entering its territory to do so lawfully, with certain exceptions such as people entering directly from the country where the persecution is taking place,” he added.
South Africa is home to many people from the Horn of Africa, including Somalis and Ethiopians, who left their countries in a search of a better life.
