Question NW1586 to the Minister of Home Affairs
09 December 2019 - NW1586
van der Merwe, Ms LL to ask the Minister of Home Affairs
(a) What number of foreign nationals and/or asylum seekers are currently in possession of temporary asylum seeker permits, (b) from which countries are the specified persons, (c) what is the breakdown of numbers in each province, (d) how many times on average do applicants renew these permits and (e) what percentage of the specified permits have been active for longer than five years?
Reply:
a) The total number of active Section 22 permit holders (temporary asylum seeker permits) is 186 210 as at 30 June 2019.
b) The countries are as follows:
Country |
Total |
Afghanistan |
16 |
Algeria |
212 |
Angola |
19 |
Australia |
1 |
Bahamas |
18 |
Bahrain |
7 |
Bangladesh |
27768 |
Barbados |
2 |
Belarus |
1 |
Benin |
46 |
Botswana |
4 |
Burkina Faso |
44 |
Burundi |
6874 |
Cambodia |
1 |
Cameroon |
1926 |
Central African Republic |
7 |
Chad |
5 |
China |
95 |
Colombia |
2 |
Comoros |
21 |
Congo |
8485 |
Denmark |
2 |
Djibouti |
1 |
DRC |
35716 |
East Timor |
7 |
Ecuadorian |
1 |
Egypt |
231 |
Eritrea |
1026 |
Estonia |
8 |
Ethiopia |
50436 |
Gabon |
15 |
Gambia |
8 |
Germany |
1 |
Ghana |
1963 |
Guinea |
54 |
Guinea Bissau |
10 |
Haiti |
1 |
Hungary |
3 |
Ice Land |
1 |
India |
4348 |
Iran |
3 |
Iraq |
6 |
Ireland |
1 |
Ivory Coast |
180 |
Jamaica |
2 |
Jordan |
6 |
Kenya |
1052 |
Kyrgyzstan |
1 |
Lebanon |
3 |
Lesotho |
44 |
Liberia |
74 |
Libya |
3 |
Malawi |
2060 |
Malaysia |
2 |
Mali |
128 |
Mauritania |
3 |
Mauritius |
2 |
Morocco |
5 |
Mozambique |
535 |
Myanmar (Burma) |
1 |
Namibia |
3 |
Nepal |
93 |
Netherlands |
1 |
Niger |
772 |
Nigeria |
6475 |
Niue |
1 |
Pakistan |
9409 |
Palestine |
14 |
Russia |
1 |
Rwanda |
1047 |
Senegal |
882 |
Serbia |
1 |
Sierra Leone |
18 |
Slovenia |
1 |
Solomon Islands |
2 |
Somalia |
4339 |
Sri Lanka |
16 |
Sudan |
63 |
Suriname |
1 |
Swaziland |
20 |
Syria |
19 |
Tanzania |
598 |
Thailand |
24 |
Togo |
30 |
Tunisia |
1 |
Turkey |
56 |
Tuvalu |
1 |
Uganda |
4429 |
Ukraine |
3 |
Uruguay |
1 |
USA |
1 |
USA (Commonwealth) |
1 |
Venezuela |
2 |
Wallis and Futuna |
1 |
Yemen |
17 |
Zambia |
250 |
Zimbabwe |
14120 |
Total |
186210 |
c) Below is the breakdown per province based on the office where clients extend their permits:
Refuge Reception Office |
Province |
Total |
Desmond Tutu |
Gauteng |
109069 |
Cape Town |
Western Cape |
30219 |
Durban |
Kwa-Zulu Natal |
30504 |
Musina |
Limpopo |
11830 |
Port Elizabeth |
Eastern Cape |
4588 |
Total |
186210 |
d) Clients for the Standing Committee for Refugee Affairs (SCRA) renew their permits on average every 3 months and clients for the Refugees Appeal Board (RAB) renew their permits on average every 6 months.
e) 60% of Section 22 permits have been active for more than 5 years based on the 2019-midyear statistics.
END