Hundreds of foreign nationals and refugees have spent several nights sleeping outside the Diakonia Centre in Durban\u2019s CBD after clashes with police near the Durban Central police station.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The foreign nationals said they were forced from their homes after anti-immigration demonstrations escalated in their communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jean Butoki of the Southern Africa Refugee Organisation Forum described<\/a> the conditions facing those seeking shelter as extremely difficult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe nights have been so tough. People are sleeping on the floor. They don\u2019t have blankets; they have nothing, and there isn\u2019t any assistance for us yet,\u201d said Butoki.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe are ready to die for our safety. We are not scared because we are unsafe even in the communities where we stay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The group gathered outside Durban\u2019s Home Affairs Refugee Reception Centre on Che Guevara Road has reportedly grown to more than 400 people. Many fear what could happen as the June deadline approaches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Foreign nationals have accused members of the anti-illegal immigration movement March and March of intimidation and forcibly removing people from their residences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, March and March founder Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma defended<\/a> the organisation\u2019s stance and argued that undocumented migrants must comply with South African law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe don’t owe them anything. I think this is something that we need to reiterate to foreign nationals, because somewhere in their heads there’s a movie that’s playing that South Africa owes them,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ngobese-Zuma also questioned claims by some foreign nationals that they have remained refugees in South Africa for decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe’ve noticed that they keep saying we’ve been refugees for 20 years. No refugee can stay in a country for 20 years as a refugee,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The issue has intensified after groups of protesters demanding the removal of undocumented migrants drew the attention of eThekwini Mayor Cyril Xaba, who instructed officials to verify the immigration status of those affected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to the city, officials checked the documentation of 457 foreign nationals and found that only two individuals did not have proper documentation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The tensions are not limited to Durban. In Qonce, formerly known as King William\u2019s Town, protesters have reportedly targeted businesses they believe are owned by foreign nationals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Experts have warned that growing frustration over unemployment, poor service delivery and economic hardship is increasingly being directed at migrants instead of government institutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Loren Landau from the Wits-Oxford Mobility Governance Lab said immigrants were becoming scapegoats for broader governance failures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think what’s failed is that the South African government has lost the faith of the people, not only because of immigration, but also for other issues such as water, electricity, etc. And immigrants are now being made a scapegoat for those failures,\u201d Landau said.<\/p>\n\n\n\nGovernment to hold a meeting over the illegal immigration crisis<\/h2>\n\n\n
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