Xaba asks Schreiber to move foreigners camping at Durban refugee office

By Charmaine Ndlela

eThekwini Mayor Cyril Xaba has asked Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber to urgently intervene after hundreds of foreign nationals who were processed by immigration officials remained camped outside the Department of Home Affairs offices in Durban.

Xaba said the group should be moved to suitable temporary accommodation, warning that the situation had become a humanitarian concern, particularly for women and children sleeping on the streets.

The group had gathered outside Durban’s Diakonia Centre last week, saying they feared for their safety in several KZN communities because of rising anti-immigration tensions.

On Thursday, an integrated team including eThekwini Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal police, the Department of Home Affairs and other government departments intervened to verify the legal status of those gathered at the centre.

The group was transported by bus to the Department of Home Affairs’ Durban Refugee Reception Centre on Che Guevara Road, where 457 foreign nationals were processed.