Fears of violent flare up as SA refugee camps dismantled Friday

By Alex Bell
13 August 2008

Fears are mounting in South Africa that there will be another flare up of xenophobic violence, as thousands of refugees are set to return to the communities they were forced to flee earlier this year.

Hundreds of refugee camps were set up following a spate of violent attacks on foreigners across the country, that left more than 60 people dead and saw thousands of foreign nationals seeking temporary shelter at police stations.

The attacks saw an exodus of refugees leaving South Africa to return to their own homelands. But with the political, economic and humanitarian crises worsening in Zimbabwe, the majority of exiled Zimbabweans had no choice but to join other refugees in the camps.

But Friday will see the situation dramatically change, with the Gauteng local government saying it will close all its camps – leaving the estimated 4 000 foreigners with the choice of returning to the townships where they were originally targeted, or returning to the countries they fled.

Gabriel Shumba from the Zimbabwe exiles forum in South Africa told Newsreel on Wednesday that thousands of Zimbabweans are facing a desperate situation, as returning home is not a possibility for them. He said intimidation by South African citizens in the areas has already started, with many saying they are “ready to kill” if foreigners return to their communities.

Shumba added that Zimbabweans believe their only choices are to “either die in South Africa or die in Zimbabwe” and many have told the Exiles forum they would rather “sleep on the streets than return to the communities or to Zimbabwe”. He added that Zimbabweans, like many other foreign nationals, “have nothing to return to” if they go back to the communities, as many of their homes and possessions were destroyed, and there is no infrastructure to support them.

The violent attacks earlier this year saw the South African government scramble to make amends, but Shumba said since then the government has not done enough to ensure foreigners are protected, and added that the “basis for the feelings of xenophobia have not been removed”.

On Wednesday, lawyers from The Consortium for Refugees and Migrants in South Africa and the Wits Law Clinic, filed an urgent application at the Constitutional court to keep the temporary camps open. The move came after a Pretoria High Court dismissed the same application on Tuesday, saying the South African government was not violating the rights of the refugees. The judge added that the government was under no obligation to come up with a re-integration plan, and it had “done enough” to manage the disaster.