High Level Advocacy

Informed by its day-to-day work assisting vulnerable asylum seekers, refugees and migrants trying to access South Africa’s asylum system and their rights in South Africa, the Advocacy Programme works to drive deeper systemic change in South African society as well as South Africa’s immigration and asylum systems. The work is informed by and responsive to direct engagement with individuals and the particular problems that they experience. The work includes:

Engagement and commenting on draft legislation and policies as well as the implementation thereof, to the South African government as well as to regional and international human rights bodies such as the United Nations and the African Union, African Commission on Human and People’s Rights and the South African Development Community;

Awareness raising through online advocacy, including online communications, newsprint, documentary filmmaking, and media engagement;

Providing workshops and training to state/government officials, civil society, citizens and vulnerable groups including refugee and migrant groups, on key issues and barriers faced by migrants, asylum seekers and refugees in South Africa;

Engaging in strategic litigation informed by the practical barriers faced by asylum seekers and refugees seeking assistance from Scalabrini;

Finding durable solutions to specific issues, such as the cessation of refugee status; and

Conducting and publishing research, as well as assisting researchers focusing on refugee and migrant related issues in South Africa.