Press Review June 2019
NATIONAL COVERAGE Landmark court ruling gives refugees’ status in South Africa thesouthafrican.com 25 June 2019 The Western Cape High Court has given a crucial lifeline to refugee families from across Africa who have sought asylum in South Africa for many years. As reported by EWN, on Wednesday, 19 June, the court ruled in favour of the University of Cape Town’s Refugee Rights Unit, allowing refugee families access to documentation that...
Celebrating 25 Years in Cape Town
The Scalabrini Fathers celebrated the 25th anniversary of the establishment of their mission in Cape Town with a luncheon on Wednesday, 26 June. The event commemorated the hard work of the staff, volunteers, and trustees of the Scalabrini Centre of Cape Town, SIHMA, and Lawrence House whose combined efforts have ensured that migrants to South Africa are treated with dignity and empathy, qualities emphasized by the endeavors of John Baptist Scalabrini.Father Filippo Ferraro, executive director of...
Researching the Women’s Platform
Having worked on and off with the Women’s Platform since its start in 2014, Dr. Leah Mundell returned to Cape Town again in June 2019 to learn more about the program’s successes and places where it could be improved. Dr. Mundell spoke with a total of 47 women who had participated in the Women’s Platform about their experiences through a series of focus group interviews conducted in SIHMA’s library. Through these discussions, she explored ways that and the...
Migrants and Families in the Vision and Magisterium of Pope Francis
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Scalabrini Fathers’ arrival in Cape Town, SIHMA organized a study meeting for all priests in the archdiocese to discuss human mobility within the lense of Catholic ministry. The event showcased two Italian speakers, Fr. Francesco Pesce, the Director of Centre for the Family in Treviso, and Fr. Aldo Skoda, CS, Dean of Scalabrini International Migration Institute (SIMI) in Urbaniana Pontifical University in Rome. Archbishop Stephen Brislin was also in attendance.Fr. Francesco...
The Lawrence House Symposium
On 5 June 2019, the Lawrence House, Scalabrini’s youth and child care centre, hosted a symposium to reflect and share knowledge around the concept of young migrants’ self identity and sense of belonging. Young migrants face great loss and hardship. They have endured the struggle of leaving their home country, often without a choice, and are immersed in an unfamiliar, and possibly unfriendly, place. These circumstances can have negative consequences on a child’s sense of self. The Lawrence...
Press Review May 2019
NATIONAL COVERAGE How Xenophobia Has Become Normalized in South African Politics Worldpoliticksreview.com 21 May 2019 Anti-immigrant rhetoric has steadily seeped into mainstream political discourse in South Africa, where immigration has long been a contentious issue as the country is a primary destination for migrants from across the African continent. In the general election earlier this month, both major political parties, the ruling African National Congress and the opposition Democratic Alliance, advocated stricter...
