After persistent informal monitoring of the Department of Home Affairs' Refugee Reception Offices of Johannesburg and Pretoria, from 2004 - Refugee Ministries Centre and the Department of Home Affairs (Refugee Affairs) finally reached an agreement in November 2007, allowing RMC to officially monitor service delivery at these Refugee Reception Centres and Lindela Deportation Facility.
Prior to this agreement, RMC had since 2004, informally monitored service delivery and took up any concerns on the rights violations of refugees, with the Refugee Affairs. Refugee Affairs was initially resistant to RMC monitoring and feedback and also in denial of the challenges unearthed by RMC. When confrontations with the Refugee Affairs failed to address the challenges, RMC engaged its legal partners to litigate on the cases and all these cases were won in court. When Refugee Affairs realised that they kept losing in court, they invited RMC for discussions on the findings of the RMC access monitoring and decided to call a truce. Refugee Affairs requested RMC to bring to its attention any concerns that faced its constituents and promised to address these internally without resorting to the courts. RMC agreed and this saw the birth of the agreement by Refugee Affairs allowing RMC to monitor its service delivery and submit reports and recommendations.
RMC continues to monitor service delivery and has now expanded its mandate countrywide.
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