1,500 Foreign Nationals Flee Homes Amid Xenophobic Violence In S.Africa: UN

Riyaz Patel

The UN refugee agency UNHCR says some 1,500 foreign nationals have been forced to flee their homes in South Africa in the wake of the deadly xenophobic violence in parts of the country.

UNHCR voiced alarm at the violence earlier this month, which resulted in at least 12 deaths — two foreign nationals and ten South Africans — in a spate of attacks against foreigners fuelled by soaring unemployment and poverty.

“At least 1,500 foreign nationals, predominantly migrants but also refugees and asylum-seekers, have been forced to flee their homes,” UNHCR spokesman Charlie Yaxley said in Geneva.

He said the agency had in recent weeks received “a significant increase in calls to our telephone hotlines, with people reporting that their homes and businesses have been looted, buildings and property have been set on fire.”

UNHCR also received reports of “increased gang activity on the streets and rising incidents