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SACBC Pastoral Care for Migrants and Refugees

On 15 December 2023, H.E. Buti Tlhagale, Archbishop of Johannesburg and spokesperson of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC), sat down for an interview with ICMC to discuss statelessness, migration, and the role of faith-based organizations in bringing positive change for migrants. SACBC is ICMC’s member in South Africa, Botswana, and Eswatini. Since 2018, SACBC’s Pastoral Care for Migrants and Refugees has addressed the needs and challenges of refugees and migrants in the Southern Africa region. *** In 2018, the Pastoral Care for Migrants and Refugees was established at the request of the Southern African Bishops’ Conference. Can you tell us a bit more about its activities? While the Pastoral Care for Migrants and Refugees does carry out charitable work, the most impactful aspect of its activities is research. This work is important because it establishes facts. If we don’t know how many unregistered children or people without documents there are, it is very difficult to make a case for assistance and change. Research with reputable institutions enables us to say how many children are on the streets and in need of accommodation and registration, or are not in education and need access to it. Another important part of the work is networking for legal assistance to resolve the status of individual migrants, which is the main barrier to people’s ability to meet their basic needs. Referrals to legal representatives working pro bono, many of whom have become specialists in this area due to their experience, are very important to finding solutions. We have also been advocating for migrants to have walk-in access to computer facilities at the organizations that serve them, so they can make online, independent registration applications directly to the authorities.