Treatment of foreign seafarers ‘an embarrassment’

As if home affairs does not already have a disagreeable mix of ingredients in its pot – what with multi-million rand lawsuits over illegal detentions and hordes of foreigners seeking asylum – a Cape High Court judge has lambasted the department for the totally unacceptable manner in which it has treated foreign seafarers. FTW recently reported how five Indian relief crew due to board the 139 816dwt bulk carrier, Cape Santa Milagria, were unexpectedly detained by immigration authorities before High Court judge Vincent Saldanha put his foot down by ordering their immediate release in an urgent interdict brought before the court (FTW September 17, 2010). His scathing comments have only come to light now that the relieved ‘Indian 5’ are safely back home. But they raise a good measure of disquiet over treatment meted out to seafarers from time to time and immigration’s inflexibility in handling situations that can be more readily resolved. A “lack of empathy and disrespect for human dignity” is how maritime law specialist Alan Goldberg of Bo Kaap-based Rose Street Chambers in Cape Town describes this latest incident, certainly not the first he has had to deal with in a 20-year maritime law career. As was to be expected, immigration has risen to defend itself. “Unfortunately, when you are working for immigration it’s similar to being in the police or the military,” says a senior officer. “When you have to detain people there will be negative comments in nine out of ten cases. The question is how are you going to handle it?” As to how home affairs/ immigration “handled it” in the Cape Santa Milagria matter, there is unanimity that the treatment accorded the Indians, all senior crew including a master, was simply not cricket. In court for the midnight application by lawyer Goldberg to have the men set free was immigration officer Bradley Solomons who, knowing full well the Indians were booked to fly home the next morning and with the authority to free the men, declined to do so on the grounds he could not contact his superior. To which the judge responded: “You were more worried about yourself. Isn’t that so?” – to which witness answered in the affirmative only after the question had been repeated. Judge Saldanha said Solomons had shown “no diligence” in dealing with the matter, that he “simply did not care about them” (the five detainees) and that his evidence “leaves a lot to be desired.” The judge criticised immigration’s totally unacceptable manner in dealing with the matter, going on to say: “This is not the way to treat foreign nationals, people who come to this country not to work in this country but to work on a ship. “It is not their fault the ship was arrested. If they had foreseen the ship would be arrested they would never have come to this country “It’s an embarrassment when state officials have to behave in this way to foreign nationals and it is also an embarrassment when we’re dealing with international shipping companies.” Ordering the immediate release of the five, the judge said they should be able to leave the country “in a proper and in an orderly and dignified manner”, not in the way they had been treated.