US rejects DRC national’s asylum plea

A legal saga playing out in the US has revealed how a DRC national was tortured in his home country over his political stance, resulting in him seeking refuge in SA. The Daily Maverick reports that Sabin Sabwa said he attracted the attention of police in SA, and he became the target of people who considered him a foreigner who was taking jobs from them. Sabwa, who was born in the DRC and became a permanent SA resident travelled to the US in 2019 and tried to secure a review of a Board of Immigration Appeals decision that rejected his asylum application. A US appeals court upheld the decision. It was found that while individuals may have targeted Sabwa in SA, the government had not harassed or persecuted him.