South Africa can now strip refugees of their asylum status if they engage in any political activity related to their home countries, according to a new law that critics call illegal and deeply ironic after the ruling party fought the former apartheid government for years as a liberation movement in exile. Representatives of refugees and asylum seekers say they will go to court to challenge the new law which they say limits freedoms of speech and expression guaranteed under South Africa’s constitution, a globally praised document created after the racist system of apartheid ended and the African National Congress came to power. The new law will have a “drastic effect” both on newcomers and those already in South Africa, said the spokesman of the African Diaspora Forum, which represents refugees and others from around the continent.
SOURCE: THE NEW YORK TIMES