Cameroonian woman battles for refugee status in South Africa

In a legal standoff between a citizen of Cameroon and the Home Affairs Department, the woman objected to the fact that she is being refused refugee status, claiming that going back to her country of origin will expose her to sexual violence and endanger her life.

Home Affairs, on the other hand, claimed she admitted to coming to South Africa to seek greener economic pastures.

The woman, only identified as BO, told the Western Cape High Court that she should be enjoying international refugee protection. She asked the court to overturn the decision not to afford her legal protection and to interdict Home Affairs from sending her back to Cameroon. 

She was born in Buea, where she grew up and attended school. She did not finish her secondary education because of the civil war in her country. While in school, she learned how to sew and became self-employed after dropping out, she said.

She arrived in South Africa in December 2019 and reported to the Durban Refugee Reception Officer (‘RRO’) and applied for asylum. She was interviewed by an officer who asked her why she left Cameroon. 

BO explained that she left because of the ongoing genocide, which has been happening.  She said that there is mass sexual violence against Southern Cameroonian women and girls, and that the violence between the government forces and the armed separatist groups continued.

According to BO, her life was threatened as a result of her membership in the Kembong Youth Movement, a youth league for the Ambazonia Separatist Movement, which was against the present government regime. She also claimed she was a victim of sexual violence.

When her asylum seeker permit lapsed, she was told to report to the Cape Town immigration office. When she got there, she was served with a notification of deportation and arrested. She was, however, later released.

She now fears being arrested again and deported if the court does not intervene.

The officer who had conducted the asylum-seeking interview with her, meanwhile, told the court that the applicant told him she was not active in any organisation, nor was she involved in any politics. 

She told him that she came to South Africa to look for work as she could not find employment in Cameroon. During her interview, the applicant unequivocally stated that she did not leave the country as a result of war or political crisis.

According to the officer, she also told him that she was advised by someone to lie to Home Affairs as to why she left her country.

The interview was transcribed and signed by the applicant. She explained that Home Affairs recorded incorrect details, not what she told the RSDO.

The department, however, maintained that she said she was misled and advised to be dishonest, but that after hearing the penalty for dishonesty, she decided to play open cards.

This resulted in her reporting that she left Cameroon for South Africa to pursue economic opportunities and that she did not flee her home country to escape political persecution and civil war.

In turning down her application, the court said it accepted that she came here to pursue greener pastures, as the applicant did not come clean with the court.

zelda.venter@inl.co.za