Hundreds of Africans refugees seeking asylum in South Africa on Thursday, gathered outside the offices of the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), demanding that they be relocated to other countries, claiming they have been victims of xenophobia in the country.
Prior to the rally, the group has been living in the Lindela repatriation and detention center, where they have complained of the poor living conditions and xenophobic attacks by South African gangs.
Some of the refugees who are from Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo have been pushing to be repatriated to their respective countries.
One of the leaders of that asylum seekers, Lukombo Kaese, who is from Congo, told journalists:
“We are here at UNHCR to ask for protection because we are so tired of xenophobia; the lives of our kids are in danger, the future of our kids is in danger, that’s why we come to UNHCR to give us protection.
“We have the right as refugees, here’s the agreement between the government of South Africa and UNHCR, here’s the agreement and we know about it, we have the right to ask for a third country.”
“It is still our right, to come and ask for the third country, it’s written in the agreement, they know it as much as I can pretend to know it, the South African government and UNHCR,” another refugee, Johnny Moose, said.
The spokesperson at the UNHCR in the country, Buchizya Mseteka, who addressed the asylum seekers, said it was investigating their cases including the initial place where they had taken refuge at Lindela, but added that resettlement to other countries was not possible at the moment.
“But what I will tell you is this, the UNHCR has no control over which country can pick up these individuals for settlement, that’s up to the host country to decide.
“But to tell you how difficult it is, the last year 2021 only one percent of those who applied for settlement globally were accepted, only one percent, so it tells you things are tight even in host countries,” Buchizya said.
South African Home Affairs spokesperson, Siyabulela Qoza, who also addressed the refugees, said of the people outside the UNHCR, 22 have since opted for voluntary repatriation to their countries and are being assisted to do so.