About 46 foreigners were detained at the Boksburg North Police Station more than two weeks ago, after they were arrested for not having their documents in order.
Friends and relatives told the Advertiser that these immigrants are kept in inhuman conditions and some of them are suffering from sicknesses such as diarrhea and TB.
They also allege that they are not given enough blankets.
According to relatives and friends, the foreign detainees are complaining of poor living conditions in the facility at the police station.
Webster Ngwira said: “My three brothers told me that the cells are overcrowded. It is also reported to us they are battling to deal with the stench, probably due to the fact that there are not enough toilets for the number of people detained.
“Some people are sick and they are not being given proper medical attention and their food is inadequate.’’
Ngwira said they have complained to the police station management about the problem, but were told to contact the Department of Home Affairs. Justina Kumwenda, a Malawian who had come to visit her husband, corroborated the claim, adding that the detainees are served only a few slices of bread per day.
“Life is not good when your partner is in jail; I’m unemployed and my detained husband is the only breadwinner and it is difficult to make ends meet without him.
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“We have a little baby to look after,” she added. Another foreigner, who wished remain anonymous, said that seven of his friends have been detained.
“It’s overcrowded inside the jail. Some of those guys don’t even have shoes.
You can imagine how tough it is during the winter time,’’ he said.
“They are also given only three slices of bread twice a day, in the morning and afternoon.”
He added that his friends beg him to bring them headache pills every time he visits.
“Some of those guys are sick, some are suffering from diarrhoea,” he said.
According to him, his friend are not being taken to the Lindela repatriation centre, because the facility is full at present.
As part of the new operation, called ‘’Operation Fiela’’, a large number of SAPS members and other security forces, including the SANDF and Metro Police, as well as the Department of Home Affairs, raided a number of crime hotspots in Boksburg and surrounding areas.
Officers arrested the suspects for being in the country illegally, in Boksburg North.
The Advertiser contacted the Boksburg North SAPS and the South African Human Rights Commission for comment.
According to the spokesperson for SAHRC Isaac Mangena, the commission is aware of the fact that the police arrested several people during their operations, including Operation Fiela a few weeks ago.
“We are in constant contact with the police and are ready to intervene should we suspect that human rights are being violated,’’ he said.
“What we know is that they are in the custody of the Home Affairs Department, even though they may be inside police holding cells.
“At times the lengthy detentions are because the department is busy trying to verify the residence of those arrested, and their status in the country.’’
From the human rights perspective, Mangena stated that the commission intervenes when human rights are at stake, adding that their understanding is that this is not the case.
“We have not received any communication or complaint from the suspects or their families about any rights being violated,’’ he added.
“It is legally allowed for them to be held for two or three weeks, while the authorities are still verifying their documents and statuses in the country.
“The court order that we received last year against the Department of Home Affairs clearly states that migrants cannot be held in custody for period longer than 30 days without being deported.
“However, should this process of deportation and verification threaten to go beyond 30 days, authorities then need to get a warrant from the magistrate permitting extended detention.’’
Mangena mentioned that officials are, however, not allowed to detain foreigners for longer than the prescribed 120 day period allowed in terms of the Immigration Act.
No reply had been received from the Boksburg North SAPS on the matter at the time of going to press. -@FanieFLK D
