Durban - A Cato Ridge farming couple have taken in the foreign nationals held in custody after the closure of the Chatsworth refugee camp.
Farm owners Rae and Andrew Wartnaby on Monday made their Hope Farm available to the group of 85 adults and their children as a transit camp until a more permanent solution could be found.
The group was on Monday reunited with their 54 children kept at Chatsworth’s Aryan Benevolent Home while they were held by police at the weekend.
undefinedPrivate donors have provided tents, food, medical supplies and other necessities.
The couple said they had offered their support in the interests of the children.
“For us it is about reuniting the children with their parents. We are giving them a place until they get back on their feet.
“This is a temporary solution. As for the donations, God will provide, and we have already put up tents and ablution facilities and electricity connections,” said Wartnaby.
The Justice Association of Southern Africa, a dispute resolution organisation, has been providing the refugees with legal and other support.
Its director, Sheena St Clair Jonker, said: “Our team, which comprised social workers and attorneys, looked at all the avenues, by-laws and other legal considerations that might be relevant to setting up such a transit camp and has advised Hope Farm accordingly.”
St Clair Jonker said they had assembled a group of mediators and trainee mediators, headed by herself, to gather information, establishing the status of the refugees with a view to looking at resettlement options.
The Chatsworth camp was closed last Tuesday and the group were among those still at the Westcliff grounds on Friday when they were arrested
St Clair Jonkers confirmed the group would consider a claim of wrongful arrest and suing the police.
They were arrested on Friday and held at the Chatsworth and Bellair police stations before being released on Monday without appearing before a magistrate.
Charges against them were never formulated and no charge sheets were drawn up.
Their attorney, Jothi Chellin, said St Clair Jonker met the prosecutor and senior public prosecutor early on Monday to facilitate the release.
She said charges of contravening city by-laws and neglect of children had been expected.
“The by-law contravention charge usually carries a fine and is seldom accompanied by arrest or charge.
“At the meeting it was confirmed that the group would be released with no charges against them.
“A question of wrongful arrest and collateral civil damages claim for the traumatic events of the last few days will be examined and the group will be consulted on how they wish to deal with that aspect,” said St Clair Jonker.
The refugees are mostly from war-torn DRC and Burundi.
Their spokesman, Daniel Dunia, said the fact that they were not charged indicated that this was an unfair arrest and, had it been not for the Wartnabys, the children would not have been reunited with their parents because their parents had no place to stay.
Some among the group demanded they be repatriated to their countries of origin.
Major Walter da Costa, of Sibanye Heritage Rangers, said resettlement was a common option for refugees, but the process could take up to eight years to finalise.
Sibanye is an organisation that seeks to promote African unity.
“Resettlement will require a lot of processes, from negotiating with the anticipated host country, making funds available, assessing the applicant’s circumstances and a number of other details that are weighed to determine whether a person qualifies or not.
We are saying people should go back to their communities because we have been working closely with them (communities) and we are confident that it is safe to go back,” Da Costa said.
Provincial police spokesman, Major Thulani Zwane, said they were informed that the refugees were released on warning and taken to a private small holding.
Daily News