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The Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs has resolved to defer further oral submissions on the Immigration Amendment Bill to next week Tuesday. The committee received a number of oral submissions on the Bill yesterday and resolved that to allow adequate time for interaction it was necessary to defer the remaining inputs to next week.
 
“To ensure fairness of process and give all organisations and individuals adequate and equal opportunity to make submissions to the committee, it was only reasonable to reschedule the last two submissions to next week. This will enable members to ask question of clarity and seek further information on the submissions made,” said Mr Mosa Chabane, the Chairperson of the committee.
 
The committee today received submissions from amongst others; Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) and International Detention Centre (IDC), South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), Centre for Social Justice, Scalabrini Centre of Cape Town, Commission for Gender Equality (CGE), United Nations Higher Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), and the African National Congress (ANC). The committee will schedule next week to receive submissions from Clayville Civic Association (CCA) and the Congress of the South African Trade Unions.      
 
The Immigration Amendment Bill aims to amend the Immigration Act, 2002, so as to revise provisions relating to the arrest and detention of illegal foreigners for purposes of deportation and to align these provisions with constitutional principles. The submissions received thus far have underscored the correctness of the public participation in the law-making process as they have qualitatively enlightened members of the committee on the objects of the Bill and aspects to consider while processing the Bill.
 
The committee has received in total 378 submissions from individuals, organisations, civil society groups and legal institutions with a variety of submissions from those calling for stricter immigration control to those raising human rights concerns and constitutional compliance.

Issued by the Parliamentary Communication Services on behalf of the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs, Mosa Chabane