Unhcr
Myanmar sanctions should target coup leaders, not people: UN
Speaking before the Human Rights Council in Geneva, the UN's deputy rights chief Nada al-Nashif expressed concern after Washington announced sanctions on the...
The foreign nationals were removed from the Brooklyn building by police after they gained illegal access to the premises of the UNHCR.
More than 180 of the refugees appeared in the Pretoria Magistrates Court on Monday and insisted they wanted to be moved to a country where they would be safe from xenophobic attacks.
Foreign nationals who’ve been camping outside the UN Refugee Agency in Pretoria for weeks share how they’ve been treated.
Scuffles broke out between refugees and police at the UN Refugee Agency in Pretoria on Friday.
They are responding to a court order from Wednesday, giving them three days to end their sit-in outside the UN premises.
A case of trespassing has been opened against refugees who entered and occupied the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees office premises on Thursday. This comes after the North Gauteng High Court ordered refugees to vacate the area. They’ve been given three days to leave. The order was requested by residents of Waterkloof and Brooklyn. EWN spoke to one of the refugee leaders occupying the offices.
By next week, officials should start drawing up a list of protesters legally in the country as refugees and asylum seekers and deporting those who are not.
The men, women and children living in the Methodist church are sleeping on benches and floors on mattresses, blankets and yoga mats.
Dozens of people have been camping outside the UN Refugee Agency offices over the past few weeks.
Foreign nationals from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, Somalia, Pakistan and Zimbabwe have been camping inside and outside the agency offices. They're desperate to leave a country they once called home – and now want to leave because of safety concerns and xenophobia.
Refugees from Somalia, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Pakistan said that they were fed up with xenophobia and wanted the agency to help them leave South Africa.
Refugees have been sleeping at the centre for weeks now, demanding to be moved to safety, away from the xenophobic attacks that they have suffered in South Africa.
Democratic Alliance (DA) MP Adrian Roos, a member of the parliamentary portfolio committee on Home Affairs, said government and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) should clarify the matter.
The refugees, mostly from the Democratic Republic of Congo, said their sit-in was drawing more support daily.
The president told heads of foreign missions that the country would address the social and economic factors that led to the violence on foreign nationals.
Her comments came as UNHCR marked the halfway point in a 10-year campaign to end the plight of the millions around the globe deprived of a nationality.
South Africa, the continent's second-largest economy, is a major destination for other African migrants. But they are often targeted by some locals who blame them for a lack of jobs.
A spokesman for the UNHCR said the residents panicked and fled after the Multinational Joint Task Force, which had gone to secure Rann, left the city.