Xenophobia victims booted from roadside camp by South Africa police

Jul 28, 2008, 16:31 GMT

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.