Refugee Law in South Africa cutlines the existing law relating to refugees as reflected in South African legislation and its growing body of refugee law jurisprudence as at 2022, while also paying heed to relevant international law, which remains central to today’s regime of international refugee protection and international jurisprudence.

The topics covered in Refugee Law in South Africa include a detailed analysis of the refugee definition in South African law, the process of applying for refugee status determination, and the rights of refugees and asylum seekers. The book examines how immigration law and refugee law in South Africa can be reconciled and concludes with durable solutions for refugees in South Africa..

PART 1

Chapter 1 The evolution of refugee law in South Africa

Chapter 2 The principle of non-refoulement

Chapter 3 ‘Outside the country of nationality’: a territorial limitation

Chapter 4 Well-founded fear

Chapter 5 Persecution: acts, agents and grounds

Chapter 6 The expanded refugee definition

Chapter 7 Exclusion from refugee status

PART 2

Chapter 8 Cessation of refugee status in South Africa

Chapter 9 Application for asylum: reception

Chapter 10 Refugee status determination in South Africa

PART 3

Chapter 11 Refugee status determination: review and appeal

Chapter 12 The civil and political rights of refugees and asylum seekers in South Africa

PART 4

Chapter 13 The socio-economic rights of refugees and asylum seekers in South Africa

Chapter 14 The rights of the refugee child in South Africa

Part I: Legal framework applicable to the refugee child

Part II: Child asylum claims in terms of the Refugees Act 130 of 1998

Part III: Alternative pathways to legal recognition of refugee children in South Africa

Chapter 15 Detention and Deportation—Reconciling immigration and refugee law in South Africa

Chapter 16 Durable solutions for refugees in South Africa

Index

Advocates, attorneys, judges, magistrates, students, Department of Home Affairs, Immigration practitioners