No. 01: The South African White Paper on International Migration: An Analysis and Critique

SAMP commends the South African government and the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) for their ongoing commitment to developing a new immigration and migration policy framework, exemplified most recently by the passage of a new Refugee Act and the gazetting of a Draft White Paper on International Migration (WP). SAMP notes with encouragement the steps taken in the Draft White Paper to move to a more holistic view of the benefits of sound, effective and transparent immigration management. SAMP is supportive of continued immigration policy transformation and any initiatives that advance this aim. SAMP possesses the experience and capacity to provide an informed critique of the Draft White Paper. The comments which follow are directed towards this end and made in a spirit of constructive criticism. The present document has been prepared in response to the document gazetted on 1 April 1999 as the White Paper on International Migration and the invitation to submit comment by 30 November. In order to promote public input on the Draft White Paper, SAMP has established a facility on its website for comment and debate. We wish to draw the attention of the Department of Home Affairs to this facility and its postings, as these provide further useful input to the process of policy development through public consultation. The website can be accessed at the following address: http://www.queensu.ca/samp/ While the Draft White Paper makes many valid points and has an admirable focus on practical policy mechanisms, there are a number of potential problems of design and implementation