Refugees rounded up for deportation

Tag : Rubber Packing


Approximately 850 of the 1 800 residents at the camp had apparentlysigned up for the ID cards.

Seven foreigners were arrested at the camp on Tuesday, forintimidation and clashing with police, after they allegedlyresisted plans to remove them.

Mistrust
Mosana told reporters at the camp: "People's lives are in theirhands. They must decide. The government has created theenvironment."

She said the department would still allow people to sign the formsfor the temporary IDs on Tuesday.

A foreigner from the Democratic Republic of Congo said that he wasafraid to be reintegrated into a South African community.

"We also fear being sent back to our homelands. So what choice dowe have? All the refugee camps that I have been in did not havepolice or security guards, but in South Africa they do. They havebeen mistreating us," he said, not wanting to be named.

Some foreign nationals not affected by the xenophobic attacks hadbeen sneaking into the Glenanda camp to get temporary identitycards, said Gauteng provincial government spokesperson Thabo Masebeearlier.

"They can't do that. This is a special arrangement for victims," hesaid, adding that the fence at the back of the camp had been brokenby people sneaking in.

The camp's population had risen from 1 500 to about 1 800 eventhough some people had been leaving to return to theirneighbourhoods.

False start
Earlier, those foreigners who had not signed up for the temporaryIDs were taken out of the camps in trucks bound for the Lindelarepatriation centre to be deported.

Mosana told the Mail & Guardian Online at the time that people would be "sorted into categories" atLindela. "All documents will be checked for authenticity andlegitimacy. Those with asylum papers and refugee status will beallowed to stay."

However, the trucks returned to the camp with the people still inthem.

Masebe said the foreigners were brought back because officialswanted to complete administrative procedures before taking themaway.

He also said people who had signed for the IDs would soon have tomake their own arrangements because the camp would be closed,possibly next week or at least within two weeks. "All governmenthas to do is create safety. People are now free to go back [to theareas they were living in before the attacks]."

Last week, police clashed with foreigners, exchanging stones andrubber bullets after some residents held security guards hostage atthe shelter, the biggest refugee camp in Gauteng.