DURBAN, South Africa — Refugees and asylum seekers in Durban are expressing fears of renewed attacks as a September 30 deadline issued by an anti-immigration movement approaches.
Bishop Raphael Bahebwa, a Congolese refugee who has lived in South Africa for 26 years, said he is currently in hiding after allegedly receiving threats over his advocacy for the rights of foreigners.
The September 30 deadline was announced by March and March, an anti-immigration movement that has organised protests across South Africa. The group has called on undocumented foreign nationals to leave the country and warned of further demonstrations if its demands are not met.
Refugees in Durban, however, say the distinction between documented and undocumented migrants provides little reassurance because hostility towards foreigners often occurs without people being asked to show their immigration documents.
For several months, hundreds of refugees and asylum seekers lived outside the Durban Refugee Reception Centre on Che Guevara Road. Many said they had fled their communities because of fears of anti-foreigner violence.
The makeshift camp was eventually cleared by authorities in September. On September 15, 274 people were transported by bus to the Lindela facility in Gauteng, a government-run immigration detention centre. About 150 others remained in Durban while searching for alternative accommodation.
Some refugees said they were reluctant to return to the communities they had previously fled because they feared further attacks.
Kafuti Muyumba, a Congolese business owner and representative of the refugee community, said many refugees had lost their livelihoods during the recent unrest.
He also recalled previous waves of xenophobic violence in South Africa, including major outbreaks in 2008 and 2015.
The situation has intensified as South Africa prepares for local government elections scheduled for November 4, with migration becoming an increasingly prominent political and social issue.
South African authorities say they have strengthened immigration enforcement. According to the government's Inter-Ministerial Committee on Migration, officials processed 86,596 foreign nationals for deportation and repatriation between June 14 and August 20.
The government said 90 percent of those repatriated had entered South Africa illegally, while 95 percent had crossed the country's borders outside official ports of entry.
Authorities have also warned private groups against taking immigration enforcement into their own hands, stressing that the September 30 deadline has no legal authority and that only the government has the power to deport people.
Police said they would maintain their normal policing approach and that protesters would be expected to remain within the law.
Despite these assurances, refugees say they remain worried about their safety as the September 30 deadline approaches.
Bahebwa said many migrants fear that hostility towards foreigners could continue beyond the deadline, particularly as the country heads towards local elections.
Source: Al Jazeera
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