After months of sporadic xenophobic attacks elsewhere in South Africa, a series of brutal assaults on foreigners in makeshift settlements on the outskirts of the capital has galvanized government and private organizations into action, according to UNHCR online.
The mob attacks this month on foreigners in Attridgeville – everyone from refugees and asylum seekers to South Africans born overseas – left several people dead and large numbers of houses looted and burned.
Nearly 500 people, including 140 asylum seekers, have been given shelter in a school near the Attridgeville police station.
Numerous other foreigners have found refuge with friends and relatives. The UN refugee agency’s local partner, Jesuit Refugee Services, is among the organizations distributing food.
– This was the first trouble I had here, I did not expect it, said a Zimbabwean woman who had been in South Africa for seven years.
– They hammered open doors, some of them had guns. They took all my things. I was raising chickens and they even stole all of them, she said.
ÅRSAGEN UKLAR
In many cases of xenophobia in South Africa, the foreigners appear to be victims of jealousy – women and men engaged in small-scale trade who are perceived to be more successful than their local competitors.
Often violence has followed mass protests against inadequate government services.
But it was unclear what triggered these attacks, which began with a march by mobs that police estimated to number several thousand people.
However, it has followed several other attacks in the region around the capital and in the Eastern Cape Province this year – an alarming increase in xenophobia despite years of information campaigns by the government, UNHCR and non-governmental organizations calling for tolerance.
In many previous instances, the mob violence and looting had been directed specifically against Somalis running local businesses known for their aggressive pricing.
The attacks at Attridgeville, though, were indiscriminately against anyone considered foreign. They triggered a high-level reaction.
Minister of Home Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini, who is in charge of immigration and refugee issues, spoke to the community on Wednesday, condemning the violence.
And the Municipality of Tshwane, which includes Pretoria, has taken the lead in organizing a three-prong reaction: better policing, immediate humanitarian assistance and reintegration of the foreigners into the community.
Læs mere: www.unhcr.org
