‘We need to leave this country’: Foreign nationals in CT call on UN for help

Dozens of foreigners gathered at the offices of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in Cape Town on Tuesday to plead for help.

Foreign nationals pictured at the UN Refugee Agency Offices in Cape Town on 8 October 2019. The group asked the agency to help them leave South Africa. Picture: Kaylynn Palm/EWN.

Kaylynn Palm | 103 days ago

CAPE TOWN - Some asylum seekers in Cape Town are so scared of violence and xenophobia in South Africa that they’re staging a desperate bid to leave the country, hopefully with the help of the United Nations.

#LeavingSA Foreign nationals say government is doing nothing about their safety - and are now turning to the agency. @kaylynnpalm pic.twitter.com/BeukEZQ2kQ
— EWN Reporter (@ewnreporter) October 8, 2019

Dozens of foreigners gathered at the offices of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in Cape Town on Tuesday to plead for help.

Citizens included those from the DRC, Burundi, Somalia and Pakistan.

* Ramaphosa: Xenophobic violence doesn't represent values of SA or Nigeria

For hours, parents sat with their babies on the floor, clinging to their documents with the hopes of being assisted.

A Congolese man told **Eyewitness News **they had had enough of the violence.

“In Canada, Australia and the USA, we are welcome there. We need to leave this country, it’s not safe anymore. If my country was safe, I would have returned there.”

A Burundian woman accused the government of ignoring the plight of refugees, not only in Johannesburg where recent xenophobic attacks occurred but in Cape Town too.

“We can’t go to the government, because the government helps their people. So, we are asking for help so that we can go to another country.”

The UNHCR has yet to respond.

#LeavingSA People from the DRC, Burundi and other countries say they they will stay at the office until they get answers. KP pic.twitter.com/sZ7ZdjzFyg
— EWN Reporter (@ewnreporter) October 8, 2019

Government has acknowledged the sit-in at the offices of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees in Cape Town.

Government spokesperson Phumla Williams called on all citizens and foreign nationals to live in harmony.

Williams said the Western Cape Refugee and Migrant Forum distanced itself from this sit-in.

Timeline

Comments

EWN welcomes all comments that are constructive, contribute to discussions in a meaningful manner and take stories forward.

However, we will NOT condone the following:

- Racism (including offensive comments based on ethnicity and nationality)
- Sexism
- Homophobia
- Religious intolerance
- Cyber bullying
- Hate speech
- Derogatory language
- Comments inciting violence.

We ask that your comments remain relevant to the articles they appear on and do not include general banter or conversation as this dilutes the effectiveness of the comments section.

We strive to make the EWN community a safe and welcoming space for all.

EWN reserves the right to: 1) remove any comments that do not follow the above guidelines; and, 2) ban users who repeatedly infringe the rules.

Should you find any comments upsetting or offensive you can also flag them and we will assess it against our guidelines.

EWN is constantly reviewing its comments policy in order to create an environment conducive to constructive conversations.