A/HRC/35/25/Add.1
47.
In 2012, the Migration and Foreigners Service, with the support of UNHCR,
initiated a nationwide registration campaign for refugees and asylum seekers. Full
registration would have been instrumental in enhancing the protection of refugees and
asylum seekers in the country. However, due to technical problems, the registration efforts
were suspended. Consequently, data on asylum seekers and refugees also remains
unavailable.
48.
The new identification documents for refugees and asylum seekers provided for
under the 2015 Asylum Law should include higher security features and therefore reduce
the risks of detention. However, given that the Ministry of the Interior had not finalized the
regulation introducing the new identification documents and the Migration and Foreigners
Service had suspended issuance of identification documents for those who had applied for
asylum since the entry into force of Law 10/15, at the time of the Special Rapporteur’s
visit, refugees and asylum seekers could not obtain any identification documents
whatsoever.
49.
The Special Rapporteur was informed that refugees and asylum seekers are not
covered by Presidential Decree No 80/13 of 5 September 2013, under which late birth
registration for children over the age of 5 is now free of charge for Angolan nationals.
Furthermore, pursuant to an administrative instruction issued by the Ministry of Justice
(Circular de Execução Permanente) issued in May 2011, issuance of birth certificates to
children born of foreigners, including children of refugees and asylum seekers, has been
suspended until the adoption of the new nationality law. Consequently, many foreigners
have been unable to register their children and obtain birth certificates, depriving them from
access to a wide range of rights. Moreover, when they are provided, the birth certificates
indicate that the parents are foreigners, and many employers, civil servants and other
service providers are using that information to discriminate against migrants.
50.
Access to a legal identity is a fundamental right. Birth registration is essential in
order to protect migrant children and prevent statelessness. Failure to document a person’s
legal existence prevents the effective enjoyment of a wide range of human rights, including
access to education and health care.
C.
Intimidation or harassment by law enforcement officials
51.
The Special Rapporteur was informed that undocumented migrants, asylum seekers
and refugees are often victims of harassment and intimidation by police officers.
Additionally, the police carry out operations in artisanal diamond mines, informal markets,
residential areas, shops, streets, churches and mosques, in search of undocumented
migrants, often going door to door. Those operations are often marred by violence, threats,
intimidation, extortion and the destruction of valid identity documentation. Furthermore,
migrants and asylum seekers, including pregnant women and children, are regularly
arrested and detained in large numbers without access to legal information or assistance,
and police officers use those occasions as an opportunity to extort bribes from
undocumented migrants. Those who defend the rights of undocumented migrants have also
been intimidated by the police.
D.
Collective expulsions
52.
The Special Rapporteur was concerned about the impact of collective expulsions of
undocumented migrants. He was informed that, at the border with the Democratic Republic
of the Congo, in Dondo, deportations are often implemented on the day of arrest. That does
not give migrants an opportunity to apply for a judicial remedy.
53.
Of particular concern is the impact that has on the commitment of Angola to the
principle of non-refoulement of asylum seekers and refugees. Articles 54 and 3 (z) of the
Law on Refugee Status prohibits the expulsion of refugees and asylum seekers from
Angola, except for reasons of national security or public order, for having committed a
fraud that resulted in the recognition of refugee status or for having committed an
excludable act. In spite of that, the Special Rapporteur remains concerned that the principle
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