Persons should then have a preliminary interview to assess whether they might be eligible for asylum, and if they are, then they are issued with an asylum seeker permit (ASP). This is NOT refugee status, but indicates that the person is in the process of being considered for refugee status.59 An ASP entitles the holder to remain in South Africa while their application for asylum is processed. However, the permit is only valid for one month at a time, meaning that asylum seekers have to return to the reception office once a month for a renewal stamp. The asylum seeker also has to return to the office of issue, meaning that it is impossible to relocate within South Africa while the application is in process. Work and study Prior to December 2002, ASP holders did not have the right to work or study although they could apply for this after six months of waiting to be processed. In December 2002, the Legal Resources Centre in Cape Town won a challenge in the High Court stating that withholding the right of asylum seekers to work and study was in violation of the South African constitution.60 However, RROs have not always applied this ruling; the Johannesburg office still allegedly issues ASPs that state that study and work are prohibited, and other offices are reportedly still applying the six month rule, and are not informing asylum seekers of their right to have the prohibition clause lifted.61 “Refugees” Once an application has been processed and asylum granted, the person is officially a refugee. A refugee permit is issued for two years, and refugees have many of the same rights as full South African citizens, including the right to employment, and to access health care and education. A refugee may also have a UN Convention Travel Document issued by the Government of South Africa and may leave the country without jeopardizing their refugee status. Asylum seekers may not leave the country without being deemed to have given up their claim to asylum. After two years, if the review process deems that the person is likely to remain a refugee indefinitely, he/she may apply for South African citizenship. Refugee status – a future based decision To qualify as a refugee, it is not necessary to prove personal experience of persecution prior to having fled your nation, only that events of public disorder are taking place in your home country and that if you are forcibly returned, your “physical safety or freedom may be threatened”.62 The decision as to whether a person is granted asylum or not, is a future based decision, an assessment of whether the home country is safe to return to, rather than whether you 59 In reality, these first interviews are not being done; the very few who manage to access the office are given ASPs without any assessment of how legitimate their claims are. This places into the system many who may not eligible and these applicants become an extra burden on the system, needing renewal stamps every month for years, before processing and eventual denial of asylum. 60 Cited in CASE, op cit, page 96 ff. 61 A lawyer reported in October 2004 that on being questioned about this, the Johannesburg reception office claimed a problem in changing their stationery, as they are using an old stencil to produce asylum seeker permits that still states work and study are prohibited! If asked to do so by refugees, they draw a line with a pen through this prohibition and hand write on to the permit that work is permissible. However, needless to point out, not all asylum seekers know they have a right to work and therefore do not insist on the alteration, and prospective employers have a problem accepting the hand alterations as legitimate. 62 The Refugees Act 1998, Chapter 1, 2. 35