PASSOP

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Passop Logo designed by Thulani Harvey

PASSOP (People Against Suffering, Suppression, Oppression and Poverty) is a community based, grass roots organization devoted to fighting for the rights of asylum seekers, refugees and immigrants in Cape Town, South Africa. It is unique in that it is an advocacy and activist organisation that draws the bulk of its members from the refugee community. By identifying and exposing corruption within the Home Affairs Department, PASSOP has greatly increased the number of asylum seekers being served each day (from around 20 before the creation of PASSOP to now over 200). Through protest action, PASSOP has brought the issues of corruption and xenophobia to the public eye.

Founding

PASSOP was founded in 2007 by a group of Zimbabweans and spearheaded by Braam Hanekom. Though originally established in response to increased tensions between Zimbabwean foriegn nationals fleeing Robert Mugabe's increasingly repressive regime and South African citizens who blamed them for crime and unemployment, PASSOP has since become a leading advocate for human rights in South Africa. Staffed by volunteers and funded primarily through donations, PASSOP has had a large impact on the debate around the situation of documented and undocumented immigrants in South Africa, vowing to be a “voice for the voiceless.” .

Protests around Home Affairs Queue

PASSOP set the tone for its protest activism in its advocacy for the refugees who were forced to wait in massive queues outside of Cape Town's Department of Home AffairsRefugee Center, in November 2007. At that time, the Department of Home Affairs processed only 20 asylum applications daily, as between 600 and 1,000 refugees camped outside the department in a queue circling the block. Many foreign nationals waited in the queue for weeks; one, Adonis Musati, starved to death while waiting to receive asylum documents that he was entitled to by law.. Following this death, PASSOP lodged a complaint with the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) and raised funds to repatriate Mosati's body to Zimbabwe. PASSOP members also staged several protests at the Refugee Center and lobbied the Parliament on behalf of those refugees still waiting in the queue. As a direct result, Cape Town's Department of Home Affairs now services between 180 and 300 applications daily, and has provided those queuing with clean water taps, waste bins and portable toilets.

Response to Xenophobic Violence

Following Xenophobic attacks in several informal settlements in the Western Cape and Gautang in May and June 2008, PASSOP was a vocal member of the Civil Society Task Team, set up by the SAHRC in response to the massive influx of foreign nationals into refugee camps. PASSOP worked closely with both South Africans and foreign nationals to negotiate the refugees' peaceful reintegration into their communities. PASSOP remains a forum in which refugees can speak out about the conditions in which they now live in South Africa. PASSOP works closely with community leaders in the Zimbabwean, Congolese and Somali community structures to address issues, concerns and problems facing refugees and immigrants within Cape Town. In this, PASSOP especially advocates for undocumented immigrants who often have no civil representation. PASSOP is also collaborates with students, and has established a student organization at the University of Cape Town- UCT PASSOP.

Zimfest

PASSOP will be the beneficiary of the 2008 Zimfest Music festival, held in Gardens, Cape Town on Sept. 6, 2008. Confirmed performers include Freshlyground, The Rudimentals, The Dirty Skirts,Ike Moriz, New Altum and Coda.

Core Values

PASSOP believe that South Africans and African Immigrants have in common the dreams shared by many oppressed – those of freedom, of peace, of freedom of expression and most importantly those of equality.

PASSOP maintains that definitions of refugees and asylum seekers need to be reformulated to take into account breadline refugees. The situation in Zimbabwe is so appalling that people must choose between leaving their homes in search of a means of survival or remaining at home to starve. The economic condition in Zimbabwe is so extreme it constitutes a humanitarian crisis. People in Zimbabwe are so destitute that many are below the breadline, meaning they cannot even afford basic food and are therefore driven out of their own country, seeking subsistence survival in South Africa and other Southern Africa nations. PASSOP wants to make the South African public aware of the lack of choice people have in their decisions to cross the border. PASSOP is against all xenophobic attacks on immigrants and maintains that the right to freedom and dignity is one of all persons residing in South Africa, whether here legally or illegally. PASSOP has made their disappointment with South African foreign policy known through the media and public protests. PASSOP continues to demand immediate improvement in the services provided to refugees and asylum seekers by the Department of Home Affairs.

External References

[Homepage: People Against Suffering Suppression Oppression and Poverty]

[BBC News: "Zimbabwean Dies Queuing for Visa"]

[Homepage: Zimfest Music Festival]

[The Voice of the Cape: "PASSOP Takes Immigrant Issues to SAHRC"]