Police Remove Refugees Outside UNHCR Office In Pretoria

Riyaz Patel

Police have began removing refugees who have been camped outside the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ (UNHCR) offices in Pretoria.

This follows a court order Wednesday which gave them three days to vacate the area.

On Thursday, some refugees scaled the UNHCR fence to escape eviction.

The Waterkloof Homeowners’ Association and Brooklyn and Eastern Areas Citizens’ Association filed the urgent application seeking to get the refugees to leave the area.

A trespassing charge was opened which the police acted executed on Friday morning. 

On Thursday, the Sheriff of the High Court read out the order granted by the Gauteng High Court and pinned it to the gates of the UNHCR office.

The refugees are seeking to be resettled fearing xenophobic attacks in South Africa.

They have been living on the pavements, in