Tensions escalated on Tuesday morning when the group refused to vacate the police station precinct, forcing police to use teargas and rubber bullets to disperse the crowd. (Screenshot)
About 200 foreigners who sought refuge at the Durban Central Police Station, fearing for their safety, want the United Nations (UN) to intervene and protect their stay in South Africa.
The group, made up of citizens from various African countries, spent two days sleeping outside the police station, claiming they were fleeing harm in their residential areas. They alleged that anti-migrant forces linked to the March and March movement had attacked them in their neighbourhoods.
“When someone is facing imminent threat and danger to their lives, the natural thing to do is to seek police protection,” Lumo Hamadou, the spokesperson for the group, told the Mail & Guardian. “But the police have not assisted us; instead, they have unleashed violence. We now have no choice but to send a delegation to the UN offices and ask them to help us.”
Hamadou said the foreigners chose the police station for safety reasons. They claimed police refused to open cases against locals who allegedly invaded their homes and businesses operating in the eThekwini metro.
