A/HRC/17/33/Add.4 B. 1. National legal and institutional framework Policy and legislation 10. The constitutional guarantees of human rights and the legal framework governing asylum are widely considered to be progressive. 11. Legislation regulating migration issues includes the Refugees Act (1998), the Immigration Act (2002) (last amended in 2004), the Immigration Regulations (2005), the Criminal Procedure Act (Act No. 51 of 1977), the Defence Act (Act No. 42 of 2002) and the Child Care Act (1983) for minors. 12. The Refugees Act (1998) sets out the procedures for applying for and the granting of refugee status. Condition no. 9 of the asylum-seeker permit allows asylum-seekers to work and study while their applications are pending, although it may take up to six months for an application for political asylum to be processed. This state of affairs raises questions about the welfare of applicants in the interim, and could encourage asylum-seekers to resort to the underground economy or even crime. 13. Immigration issues are governed by the Immigration Act of 2002 (“the Act”, last amended in 2004), which regulates the provision to issue permits for skilled migrants, students, tourists and other categories of permanent and temporary migrants by the Department of Home Affairs. It is worth noting that, since 2009, South Africa has entered into bilateral agreements with all neighbouring countries, whereby citizens are eligible for a free visa to enter South Africa for periods of up to 30 days. Such a visa does not include the right to work or to seek employment. 14. The Immigration Act also aims at establishing a system of immigration control, which would ensure that permanent residence permits are issued as expeditiously as possible and on the basis of simplified procedures and reasonable criteria. It also aims at taking into consideration the contribution of foreigners to the South African labour market, which should not have an adverse impact on existing labour standards and the rights and expectations of South African workers. The Act also regulates the arrest and deportation of undocumented migrants. 2. Illegal foreigners and detention 15. According to section 49 of the Immigration Act, it is an offence to enter or remain in the country without a proper permit or papers. Anyone who fails to produce valid documents entitling them to be in the country can be arrested by an immigration officer or a member of the police without a warrant, for purposes of identification (sect. 41). Section 34 of the Act provides for the arrest, detention and deportation of “illegal foreigners”. An illegal foreigner is defined under section 1 as “a foreigner who is in the Republic in contravention of this Act.” According to the Act, an immigration officer may declare any person an illegal foreigner if that particular officer is not satisfied that he or she is a citizen, a permanent resident or a temporary resident under the Act. Section 32(2) of the Act requires that anyone declared an illegal foreigner be deported. 16. Under the Immigration Regulations (2005), an illegal foreigner may be issued a “Form 20” exempting them from arrest and detention pending the outcome of a status application. A person may be detained on “reasonable grounds” for up to 48 hours while his or her status is investigated. After being declared an illegal foreigner by an immigration officer, he or she may be detained for up to 30 days without a warrant. For detentions lasting longer than 30 days, the immigration officer must obtain a warrant from a magistrate’s court. The warrant may extend the detention for a maximum period of 90 days. 6