Durban Refugees Fear Fresh Attacks as September 30 Deadline Nears

DURBAN, South Africa — Refugees and asylum seekers in Durban are facing renewed fears about their safety and uncertain housing as the September 30 deadline issued by the group March and March approaches.

March and March has called for undocumented foreign nationals to leave South Africa and warned of further demonstrations if its demands are not met. The South African government has said the deadline has no legal authority and warned private groups against taking immigration enforcement into their own hands.

Camp cleared after months outside reception centre

Hundreds of refugees and asylum seekers spent roughly four months sleeping on the pavement outside the Durban Refugee Reception Centre. People at the makeshift camp included nationals from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, Uganda, Mozambique and Tanzania.

Residents said they had left their communities because they feared anti-foreigner attacks. Many depended on civil society organisations and volunteers for food and other necessities, while migrants described irregular access to food and medication.

On September 3, members of March and March confronted people outside the centre. Violence broke out, police intervened and at least four people were reported injured.

The government moved to clear the camp in mid-September, offering residents a choice between returning to their communities or accepting temporary accommodation at Lindela, a government-run immigration detention facility in Gauteng.

On September 15, 274 people were taken by bus from Durban to Lindela. About 150 others remained in the city and began looking for alternative accommodation. The final outcome for everyone transported to Lindela has not been established, and it is not known how many of those who stayed in Durban secured housing.

Fears of violence and distrust of police

Bishop Raphael Bahebwa, who arrived in South Africa as a refugee from the DRC and has lived there for 26 years, said he was in hiding because of threats linked to his advocacy for foreigners’ rights.

“I am in hiding now because they say they are going to kill me for speaking about the rights of foreigners,” Bahebwa told Al Jazeera.

Bahebwa said migrants had struggled to obtain help after earlier attacks. “Police said we can’t open cases because we are foreigners. We had nowhere to go,” he said. Police had not publicly responded to that specific allegation.

Kafuti Muyumba, another refugee, said many people were afraid to return to their communities. “People are afraid,” Muyumba said, adding that many Congolese refugees did not see returning to the DRC as a viable option because “there is still war there.”

Muyumba also described distrust of the police and alleged that officers had failed to prevent violence. These accounts from refugees and asylum seekers have not been independently verified in every detail.

GroundUp, as reported by Al Jazeera, said six refugees working in salons around Durban’s Warwick Street Market were beaten by men carrying sticks. Two were hospitalised.

Government cites stronger immigration enforcement

The government said it had intensified immigration enforcement as part of a broader effort to strengthen border management and enforce immigration law.

According to South Africa’s Inter-Ministerial Committee on Migration, authorities processed 86,596 foreign nationals for deportation and repatriation between June 14 and August 20. Government data said 90 percent of those repatriated had entered the country illegally, while 95 percent had crossed the border outside official ports of entry.

March and March says its campaign is directed at undocumented immigration, crime and deteriorating conditions in South African communities, rather than foreign nationals generally. Its leaders have rejected accusations that the movement is xenophobic.

Refugees and asylum seekers, however, said the distinction between documented and undocumented migrants offered little reassurance because hostility on the streets rarely begins with a request to see immigration papers.

Police said they had no plans to alter their normal approach because of the September 30 deadline and would expect protesters to remain within the law. Bahebwa said he believed the issue would continue beyond the deadline, which comes ahead of South Africa’s local government elections on November 4.