The High Court held that the petition should have been based on the Immigration Act and not the Refugees Act, since the petitioners’ refugee status had been revoked. The Court noted that it lacked jurisdiction to determine where the petitioners should have been kept or whether they should have been deported.
The court also held that the respondents had a duty to show that the petitioners’ detention was lawful and failed to do so.
Illegal immigration; refugees; status of refugee; detention; onus to show that detention is justified; refugee camp
The petitioners were residing at the Centre for Illegal Immigrants in Francistown since the rejection of their recognition as political refugees. They were kept in detention for more than 30 months.
This was a petition for the release of petitioners from detention at the Centre for Illegal Immigrants.
The court ordered that the petitioners should be released from the Centre for Illegal Immigrants and that the respondent should pay the petitioners' costs.
The respondents had a duty to show that the petitioners’ detention was lawful and failed to do so.