Refugee Centre now under fire over allegations of assault

Posted on January 27, 2012  /  Comments Off

By Charis Le Riche

The Maitland Refugee Centre is mired in controversy again following allegations that a Zimbabwean man was seriously assaulted by security at the centre yesterday.

The incident is said to have taken place just a day after another refugee, a 33-year-old Bangladeshi man, died while waiting in the snaking queue in scorching heat.

The Refugee Centre would neither confirm nor deny the latest incident and referred queries to the Department of Home Affairs, which could not be reached for comment at the time of press.

However, Langton Miriyoga, a member of refugee rights group Passop, said eyewitnesses had confirmed the assault on the unidentified Zimbabwean man.

“The man was badly beaten up,” he said. “There were paramedics who attended to him on the scene, but they had to eventually take him to hospital.”

Miriyoga put the blame for the assault squarely on security guards at the centre. “He was definitely beaten up by the security guards. It was chaos at the centre as security tried to manage the long queues. At some point a scuffle broke out.”

SAPS spokesperson, Colonel Andre Traut, countered Miriyoga’s claim, saying he had been in contact with Maitland Police Station and there had been no record of anyone assaulted at the Refugee Centre.

Meanwhile, officials have yet to release the name of the Bangladeshi man who died on Wednesday while waiting for hours in the centre’s queue for an asylum seeker’s permit. The cause of his death has not yet been confirmed, but it is believed the man had a previous medical condition which was worsened by standing in the sweltering heat for an extended period.

Miriyoga said the man’s death, followed by the alleged assault of another refugee just a day later was proof that urgent action needs to be taken to protect refugees at the centre from inhumane conditions and alleged mistreatment by security guards. “Refugees are people, too, and they have human rights,” he stressed.

The Department of Home Affairs has said an investigation into the Bangladeshi national’s death will be opened. © The Big Issue SA