All Press Releases
25 February 2015
In the wake of worrying reports this morning on Eyewitness News that a heavily pregnant Zimbabwean woman was supposedly denied medical assistance unless she paid R10 000 and alleged statements by the Department of Health that “all foreigners should be treated as private patients”, LHR would like to clarify the legal provisions regarding access to health care for foreign nationals....
13 February 2015
Lawyers for Human Rights has launched the Promoting Citizenship and Preventing Statelessness in South Africa: A Practitioner’s Guide that will assist practitioners in dealing with the growing phenomenon of statelessness in South Africa.
A stateless person is someone who is not recognised as a citizen by any state under the operation of its laws.
LHR began the Statelessness Project in 2011...
2 February 2015
The International Organization for Migration (IOM), South African NGO Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) and the Mozambican Mine Workers Association (AMIMO) are together finding sustainable solutions for migrant mineworkers and their families who cannot access the social security benefits they are entitled, which include healthcare, pension schemes and worker compensation.
This is due to a range of...
24 January 2015
The xenophobic violence spreading throughout Soweto and surrounding areas in Johannesburg is indicative of a lack of tolerance and compassion for foreign nationals trying to make a living in South Africa.
Lawyers for Human Rights is shocked and disappointed by the blatant disregard for human life in these attacks and calls for a swift and efficient end to the violence.
So far, at least three...
9 December 2014
Civilians in South Sudan have been paying a huge price since the outbreak, on December 15, 2013, of the conflict which opposed the forces loyal to the President Salva Kiir and those supporting the former Vice President Riek Machar. In its mission report on South Sudan, FIDH raises serious concerns over the risks of a further deterioration of the human rights and humanitarian situation in the...
3 December 2014
The Court of Justice of the European Union has issued a landmark decision on assessing the credibility of sexual minority asylum seekers. In A, B and C vs. Staatssecretaris van Veiligheiden Justitie, the Court disallowed inappropriate practices in evaluating the claims of asylum applicants claiming persecution based on their sexual orientation. ORAM hopes the Court's ruling will bring about...
28 November 2014
The below organisations stand in solidarity with the family and loved ones of Michael Brown and those bereaved, angered and in danger in Ferguson and across the United States. The shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson and the reported mishandling of the prosecution of his killer, Officer Darren Wilson, are the most recent in a history of failures of the legal system to do justice when...
26 November 2014
In a hard-hitting judgement handed down on 26 November 2014, the Supreme Court of Appeal ordered ArcelorMittal South Africa Ltd (AMSA) to release various environmental records to the Vaal Environmental Justice Alliance (VEJA), and to pay the communities’ legal costs.
The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) refused AMSA’s appeal against the September 2013 High Court judgement ordering...
25 November 2014
Lawyers for Human Rights has been forced to remove an urgent medical matter from the urgent roll in the North Gauteng High Court after Ethiopian refugee Badesa Fokora passed away before the matter could be heard.
The 27-year-old was taken to Helen Joseph Hospital in Johannesburg after he fell gravely ill a month ago where he was diagnosed with double kidney failure. The hospital confirmed that...
21 November 2014
Lawyers for Human Rights welcomes the Department of Home Affairs’ promise to address the deplorable situation at the Marabastad Refugee Reception Office in Pretoria.
Positive changes are already evident with the appointment of a new security company (after LHR observed multiple human rights abuses such as whippings and beatings committed by the previous Mofoko Security Company). ...