The SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has signed an agreement with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to formalise a partnership aimed at protecting the rights of asylum seekers and refugees.

The memorandum of understanding was signed at a virtual ceremony in Johannesburg and Pretoria, led by SAHRC chairperson Bongani Majola and UNHCR Representative to South Africa Leonard Zulu.

The agreement provides a co-operation framework for the two organisations to join hands in advocacy and human rights protection activities, the SAHRC said in a statement.

Zulu said, "Human rights are at the centre of the protection regime for persons forcibly displaced by conflict, persecution and violence. The congruence of our respective mandates is obvious. A person seeking international protection does so when he or she is no longer able to have national protection of their countries of origin."

The agreement enables information sharing, protection interventions in individual cases, consultations, knowledge exchange, and co-operation on projects that promote human rights.

Among the joint engagements, the SAHRC and UNHCR will advocate for progressive policies, legislation, processes, and practices to protect and promote human rights.

Earlier this year, the UNHCR signed an agreement with the Department of Home Affairs to eliminate delays and a backlog in decisions for asylum seekers, which has been building up since 2008.

As of the 2019/20 financial year, the Refugee Appeal Authority of SA (RAASA), an independent statutory administrative tribunal tasked with ensuring that appeal cases are dealt with efficiently, said the backlog stood at more than 153 000 cases.