Refugees in South Africa fear new attacks as September 30 deadline looms

Refugees and asylum seekers in Durban, many from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Burundi with others from Uganda, Mozambique and Tanzania, say they are anxious about a September 30 deadline announced by the anti-immigration group March and March. The movement has staged protests across South Africa this year and called for undocumented foreign nationals to leave, warning of further demonstrations if its demands are not met. Several refugees told Al Jazeera the street hostility they face often does not start with checks of immigration papers and that both documented and undocumented people have been targeted.

For roughly four months hundreds of men, women and children slept on the pavement outside the Department of Home Affairs’ Durban Refugee Reception Centre, relying on civil society groups for food and essentials. Conditions at the makeshift camp were described as desperate by residents; some said access to food and medication was irregular and Al Jazeera was told one man with tuberculosis died while at the camp, a claim the outlet has not independently verified. Tensions between residents and protesters boiled over in early September: on September 3 members of March and March confronted those outside the centre, leading to violence that left at least four people injured and prompted police intervention.

In mid-September authorities cleared the pavement camp and offered residents two options: return to the communities they had fled or accept temporary accommodation at Lindela, a government immigration facility in Gauteng used for detention and repatriation. The choices divided the group. On September 15, 274 people were transported from Durban to Lindela; about 150 others opted to remain in Durban and seek alternative lodging. Some accepted Lindela out of exhaustion with life on the street, while others feared going there because of its association with detention and deportation.

Those who stayed behind say they have little safe place to go. Community representatives said many are afraid to return to neighbourhoods where they once ran businesses or lived because of ongoing hostility and a perception that police protection is uneven. Attacks earlier this year left some migrants beaten and hospitalised, and residents said they struggled to get support from authorities after those incidents. Police told Al Jazeera they have no plans to change standard policing for the September 30 deadline and that protesters must remain within the law, while March and March frames its campaign as targeting undocumented migration, crime and poor conditions in some South African communities.