This archive report was first published on 16 November 2019.
On October 8, hundreds of asylum-seekers began camping outside the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Pretoria, seeking relocation to another country following a wave of xenophobic violence in September.
After being informed of a court order to vacate the site within three days, protesters broke into the UNHCR premises on Thursday, prompting police to use water cannons to disperse them.
According to provincial police spokeswoman Mathapelo Peters, 182 men and one woman were taken into custody at different police stations and were expected to appear before the Pretoria Magistrate Court on Monday, charged with trespassing.
As the situation escalated, hundreds of women and children were bussed to a repatriation centre on the outskirts of Johannesburg as 'temporary accommodation', Peters stated.
'Door open' for dialogue ¶
Meanwhile, the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) announced that it would not press charges against foreigners who attacked an archbishop and several others at a church in Cape Town on Friday.
The foreigners, many of whom claimed to be asylum-seekers, had sought refuge at the church after being evicted from a similar sit-in protest at a building hosting the UNHCR in Cape Town.
SAHRC commissioner Chris Nissen told AFP, 'I asked the police not to intervene. We want to leave the door open for negotiations and dialogue.'
Officially, South Africa is home to 268,000 refugees and asylum seekers, mainly from Somalia, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
They claim to suffer ill treatment and discrimination and seek a new life in another country, citing a flawed and backlogged application system that leaves many asylum-seekers stuck in limbo for years.
