According to section 16(1) 2017 Refugees Act, the Minister of Home Affairs and Internal Security has the power to recognize a group or groups of people as refugees by statutory order. Therefore, there is a clear mandate for prima facie recognition of refugees analogous to refugees determined in an individual assessment with the same statutory mandate by COR and the same rights and obligations as individually recognized refugees (section 16(1)). While there are no specific provisions for access to services or documentation, the wording of section 16 2017 Refugees Act suggests that neither is different compared to individually recognized refugees. Section 16(4) 2017 Refugees Act also imposes a duty on the Minister to inform all relevant officials of the group declaration to ensure consistent application. However, section 16 2017 Refugees Act provides no criteria to trigger the process of prima facie recognition of refugees and does not link prima facie recognition to large influxes. Furthermore, there are no institutional or organizational arrangements in the law to address large influxes. There is no provision for transition to individual recognition, indicating that status obtained via prima facie recognition can only be cancelled, revoked or ceased in accordance with the provisions for individually recognized refugees. However, there is no clear procedure governing the duration or the end of prima facie recognition, which may create additional risks for refugees recognized prima facie.

The Minister may also by statutory order amend or revoke the declaration of group recognition (section 16(1) 2017 Refugees Act). However, there are no criteria or thresholds serving as safeguards indicated in the Act regarding the amendment or revocation, while persons previously recognized are not subject to revocation of their refugee status (section 16(2)(a) 2017 Refugees Act). 

The Minister also has the power to exclude or exempt a person from a declaration made under section 16(1) 2017 Refugees Act; however, this does not preclude that person from applying for recognition as a refugee themselves individually (section 16(3)). Nevertheless, there are no criteria for exclusion or exemption from group recognition, potentially resulting in arbitrary or even discriminatory exclusion from group recognition, especially considering that there are no safeguards, grievance mechanisms or even appeal against the decision by the Minister.