Programme News
12 August 2014
(Press release)
Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) has cautiously welcomed today’s (Tuesday) announcement by the Department of Home Affairs that a new dispensation permit for Zimbabwean nationals will be issued as of 1 January 2015. Applications will be received from 1 October – 31 December 2014 and permits will be valid for a maximum of three years. This will replace the permits issued during the 2010...
11 August 2014
(News)
Judy Manjoro (49) is a teacher, but when she fled Zimbabwe in 2005 during political violence and came to South Africa, she was forced to become a domestic worker because there was no other work available.
In the afternoons when she returned to her home in Yeoville, Johannesburg, she would gather the children of other refugees off the streets and give them lessons.
In 2011 she formalised this...
21 July 2014
(News)
Zimbabwe will be able to support any influx of deportees from South Africa and Botswana, according to the minister of home affairs, Kembo Mohadi.
There are indications that the two neighbouring countries might start deporting a large number of undocumented Zimbabweans.
South Africa has introduced stringent immigration laws which will compel 250 000 Zimbabweans who benefited from a...
19 July 2014
(News)
A gravely ill 12-year-old Somali girl will receive the medical treatment she needs for a heart condition, including an operation, after a settlement was reached in the High Court in Pretoria on Friday.
Lawyers for Human Rights, acting on behalf of the girl's family in South Africa, launched an urgent application after she was allegedly turned away from the Steve Biko Hospital because she was...
19 July 2014
(News)
Somali girl to get life-saving treatment
A critically ill young Somali girl was Friday morning admitted to a state hospital in Pretoria for treatment after a settlement between her lawyers and health authorities.
Lawyers for Human Rights launched an urgent application in the North Gauteng High Court to secure life-saving treatment for the 12-year-old girl after she was allegedly refused treatment...
18 July 2014
(Press release)
Steve Biko Academic Hospital in Pretoria has agreed to treat a 12-year-old Somali girl that was initially refused a life-saving operation.
Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) and the hospital reached an agreement on Friday that she would be treated immediately at Steve Biko where she has since been admitted as a patient. The agreement was made an order of court in the North Gauteng High Court.
The...
18 July 2014
(News)
Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) has launched an urgent application in the North Gauteng High Court to seek life-saving treatment for a 12-year old Somalian girl who may die because she is undocumented and cannot pay a quarter million rand bond for surgery. AAISHA DADI PATEL reports.
The girl arrived in South Africa on July 4 as an asylum seeker, with the intention of applying for...
18 July 2014
(News)
The brother of a 12-year-old refugee Somali girl who is being refused life-saving surgery will turn to the North Gauteng High Court for an urgent order forcing the health authorities to give her the heart operation she desperately needs.
The girl cannot be operated on because she has no refugee documents, or R250 000.
The two cannot be identified because the girl is a minor.
Lawyers for...
18 July 2014
(News)
No heart surgery for ailing girl
The 10-day journey from war-torn Somalia to South Africa was tough, but it was the start of a better life for the 12-year-old.
Or so she thought.
The girl, whose unemployed and widowed mother remains in Mogadishu, planned to live with her brother in Pretoria, where he runs a small shop.
But just a day after she arrived in the country on July 4, she collapsed and...
16 July 2014
(Press release)
Lawyers for Human Rights has launched an urgent application in the North Gauteng High Court seeking life-saving medical treatment for a 12-year-old Somali girl.
The matter will be heard on Friday, 18 July 2014, at 10am.
She arrived in South Africa on 4 July as an asylum-seeker with the intention of applying for refugee status after fleeing conflict in Somalia. Unfortunately, before being able to...