Backlog Project provides hope for Cape Town refugees, asylum seekers The UNHCR made available R147-million to South Africa to establish the Backlog Project.(David Harrison/M&G) Several deserted tents, a few smouldering fires and a trampled field are a far cry from the constant traffic flow on Voortrekker Road in Cape Town that runs parallel with the Wingfield military base, which scores of refugees and asylum seekers called home for the past year. For some, their protest journey might have come full circle with the Backlog Project, funded by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). It is just over a year since two sites, Wingfield in Maitland and Paint City in Bellville, which were erected during the hard lockdown under the Covid-19 Disaster Management Act, became temporary shelter for more than 1 5o0 refugees and asylum seekers mostly from Africa.