Uncertain fate awaits back Huntley in South Africa

Brandon Huntley was so excited about his getting the refugee status that he wrote on his facebook account that, “Look for me in tomorrow’s Ottawa Sun people, lookout I’m a celebrity!”.

At that time, probably he did not anticipate the unprecedented backlash back home in South Africa. Now due to heavy pressure from the South African government, Canada has asked its Federal Court to review the controversial decision that granted Huntley refugee status.

Now the issue is not whether Huntley had been granted the refugee status rightly or wrongly but given the media built up, what would be his fate if he is deported back to South Africa. Assuming Huntley’s arguments had no strength but given the hype that the issue has generated, he may not be able to lead normal life back home in South Africa.

So much was the South African anger against the decision that a an editorial in the Sowetan had said that Canada’s decision was absolute rubbish and when people display such shocking levels of ignorance as Huntley and the Canadian refugees board have, they deserve our pity, not our anger.

Huntley, 31, who grew up in Cape Town, had alleged that he was attacked seven times in South Africa, including three stabbings, was called a “white dog” by black assailants during these attempted robberies and muggings, although he didn’t report any of the crimes to police.

After going through his arguments, the refugee board had held that Huntley, as a white person, would stand out like a sore thumb due to his color in any part of the country and that he had given “convincing proof” of the South African government’s “inability or unwillingness to protect him.”

In fact, consensus is emerging even among the white members of the South African Community that Huntley had not been persecuted per-se but the country is in general reeling through significant crime problem. The country has to come out of this perception as in less than a year it is scheduled to host the FIFA World Cup.

Widespread admission across the South Africa is that Crime is a general problem across South Africa and it impacts all South Africans and whites are not specific targets, and in fact black South Africans are more vulnerable due to higher poverty in their communities.

As Bheki Cele, South Africa’s police commissioner, very rightly said that criminals “look at what you have, rather than looking at your face.” In fact even his house has been robbed once though he is a black.

Huntley, aware of the fate that awaits him back home, has turned more cautious. He has since refused all media interviews.