The portfolio committee on Home Affairs has unanimously adopted the Refugee Amendment Bill 2015 which will open hearings of the Refugee Appeals Board to the media and public‚ and said it would recommend that the bill be adopted and passed by the National Assembly.

The amendment bill became necessary after the media challenged existing legislation and the Constitutional Court declared certain sections of the Refugees Act‚ 1998‚ inconsistent with the Constitution as it precluded members of the public and the media from attending proceedings of the Refugee Appeal Board.

The existing legislation also failed to confer discretion upon the Refugee Appeal Board to allow the public and media access to its proceedings in appropriate cases.

The portfolio committee said on Wednesday it was satisfied that it had managed to correct the mistake and hoped that the respective public members would have access to the hearings on successful applications once the two Houses had agreed to the bill.

The report and the bill will now be sent to the National Assembly for consideration and adoption.