The refugee status of a Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) doctor which was revoked must be reviewed by the Standing Committee for Refugee Affairs (SCRA), the Western Cape High Court ordered this week.
The doctor, Tshimabalanga Kabula, sought from the high court to have the SCRA decision set aside in terms of a section of the Refugees Act.
According to the SCRA, they had revoked the refugee status of Kabula having believed that he misled the body in his application for asylum.
Kabula argued that their decision was unlawful and unconstitutional, and believed that he could still have refugee status via his spouse.
According to the judgment, Kabula - a medical doctor by profession - studied for his medical degree at Kinshasa, but never permanently resided there.
After completing his studies, he returned to his parents’ place of origin, South Kivu in the eastern DRC, to work at the hospital with his mother and brother, but fled from the eastern DRC allegedly due to him being in conflict with the government.
The conflict related to Kabula refusing instructions he received from the government. Kabula refused to comply with the government’s instructions which led to his victimisation by military authorities in the DRC.
The judgment by Judge Johanna Mthimunye, read: “His father was subsequently murdered by the military and both his mother and brother burnt to death. After being detained by the government without trial, Kabula managed to flee to the Republic of South Africa (“South Africa”) where he was subsequently granted asylum in 2012 after which his refugee status was repeatedly renewed.
“Having resided in South Africa for about six years, (Kabula) applied for certification of his refugee status in terms of the Act which would entitle him to remain indefinitely in South Africa.
“In January 2019, the chairperson of the SCRA, handed a letter to Kabula informing him of the SCRA’s intention to withdraw his refugee status. Kabula was further informed that he could file representations within six months to convince the SCRA to change its decision in respect of the certification application.
“Notwithstanding the representations filed by Kabula, the SCRA on 3 February 2023, nearly two years after Kabula filed his representations, refused to grant the certification and decided to withdraw Kabula’s refugee status on the ground that the circumstances which justified the granting of the refugee status no longer existed,” the judgment read.
Motivating their decision to revoke Kabula’s refugee status, SCRA explained that the area in which he resided in the DRC “had not experienced violence in the last 10 years”.
According to the SCRA, Kabula would “no longer be at risk if he returned to Kinshasa in the DRC”.
Judge Mthimunye said: “In this matter before me, I find that there is no effective guarantee that Kabula, by returning to Kinshasa (DRC), would not be persecuted or be subjected to torture or human degrading violations. As stated in the representations to the SCRA, he was declared a wanted person in his country and had to flee from the DRC for his own safety or face death in the event of being captured by the government soldiers.”
The matter was referred back to the SCRA for proper re-consideration.