Soweto - World Refugee Day is an opportunity to remember and pay tribute to those who have been uprooted in the world, says United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Regional Representative for Southern Africa, Sanda Kimbimbi.
Speaking at a World Refugee Day event in Soweto on Wednesday, Kimbimbi highlighted the dire circumstances the world's refugees faced.
This decade more and more people will be displaced due to a number of reasons, such as conflicts, persecution and climate change, he noted.
Kimbimbi also acknowledged that South Africa has one of the best refugee legislations in the world, ensuring refugees had the freedom of movement, freedom to work and access to services.
However, the implementation of the legislation was critical to ensuring that refugees could benefit from it.
With regards to the asylum system in South Africa, he noted that while South Africa was overwhelmed with asylum seekers and the system had challenges, Home Affairs was taking steps to address it.
Receiving refugees and asylum seekers was an act of solidarity with victims of conflict, he added.
Home Affairs Deputy Minister Fatima Chohan noted the importance of World Refugee Day saying: "It allows the whole world to reflect on its state of being. It allows us to consider for a moment to pledge ourselves to forging new paths towards harmony in our world."
The courage and determination of refugees should serve as an inspiration, she noted.
Refugees were forced to start anew in foreign land due to persecution in their own countries, just like the many South Africans who sought safety in other countries during apartheid, Chohan said.
It was important to recall the role played by many countries in ensuring struggle activists sanctuary during the pursuit of freedom.
Now the time had come for South Africa to do the same and provide protection for those who fled from persecution in their home lands, she added.
Chohan noted that more and more people, particularly on the African continent were becoming refugees.
"South Africa remains one of the most liberal countries with regards to asylum seekers and refugees."
In South Arica, refugees as well as asylum seekers waiting for the outcome of their applications enjoy many freedoms not afforded to them by other countries in the world, she added.
South Africa remained the world's biggest recipient of asylum seekers and was working on improving asylum processes.
"South Africa is taking some robust steps to ensure that asylum seekers are processed efficiently and fairly. Some of these steps have instilled some fear amongst stakeholder and the refugee community but I'm here to reassure u that whatever we do is in the interest of protecting the rights of genuine refugees," she said.
Attention was being given to streamlining the asylum process to ensure that the department tried to maximise its capacity to assist the refugee community.
Sefu Godel, a refugee from the DRC and a representative of the Disabled Refugees Projects, highlighted the plight of disabled refugees.
The biggest challenge was assessing services as a disabled person, while being accepted by the community was also a challenge.
"When you see a refugee with a disability... imagine how hard it is for him to leave his country; how hard the situation must be in his country for him to leave. Imagine how hard it is to cross borders, dangerous rivers...," he said.
