Johannesburg - Hundreds of African refugees and asylum
seekers who were displaced by a spate of xenophobic violence in
South Africa in May were evicted Monday by police from the roadside
camp they have occupied for days in protest over their treatment.
The group of around 415 mostly Congolese, Burundians and
Ethiopians, among them large numbers of children, has been squatting
by the side of the road outside a deportation centre near
Johannesburg since Wednesday last week.
They are among the tens of thousands of migrants and refugees from
poorer African states chased from their homes in May by xenophobic
mobs, who accused them of taking their jobs and public housing. At
least 62 people were killed in the attacks and hundreds injured.
The group was threatened with deportation after refusing to
register for temporary ID cards at a government-run shelter for the
displaced.
But most were later allowed to go free from Lindela deportation
centre north-west of Johannesburg after showing documents proving
they had the right to be in the country.
Since being released from the centre, the group has been camping
outside despite freezing mid-winter conditions, saying they have
nowhere else to go.
While the government has been assuring that it is now safe for
African migrants to return to the communities whence they were
chased, many say they are too afraid.
On Monday, a deadline for them to vacate their roadside squat
expired and the group was carted off in six police trucks. It was
not clear where they were being taken.
The United Nations High Commission for Refugees said some had
registered with the body for voluntary repatriation to their home
countries. The UNHCR could not be contacted Monday for details.
The standoff between President Thabo Mbeki's government and the
so-called Glenanda refugees - after the camp where they had been
sheltering - has underscored the high levels of frustration and fear
among displaced migrants on the eve of another move.
The government has vowed to start dismantling the temporary
shelters set up to house the migrants by mid-August, without any
clear plan to help them reintegrate safely into South African
society.
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