Home Affairs Minister Dr Leon Schreiber announces significant reforms aimed at reducing the refugee appeals backlog.
The Department of Home Affairs has recorded its biggest reduction in the refugee appeals backlog in years, removing more than 19 000 cases from the system during the 2025/26 financial year following a series of reforms aimed at improving efficiency and adjudication capacity.
According to the department, the active refugee appeals caseload managed by the Refugee Appeals Authority of South Africa (RAASA) declined from 79 870 cases at the end of 2024 to 70 976 by the end of 2025, a reduction of 8 894 active appeals, or more than 12%.
The department said a total of 19 064 cases were removed from the ringfenced backlog of 133 582 appeals, representing a 14.2% decrease. Cases were cleared through appeal determinations, withdrawals, finalisations and paper-based decisions where applicants failed to attend scheduled hearings.
The refugee appeals backlog has accumulated over more than two decades, with some unresolved cases dating back to 2008.
