The Diakonia Centre has been the scene of heightened tensions since last week following clashes between foreign nationals and local residents. The Durban Metro Police Department was forced to intervene after some foreign nationals allegedly resisted efforts to verify their legal status and documentation. eThekwini Mayor Cyril Xaba has since called on the Home Affairs Minister to intervene and relocate the foreign nationals camping outside the city’s offices to suitable accommodation facilities.
The Mayor of eThekwini Cyril Xaba has called on Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber to intervene in the situation involving immigrants protesting outside the Department of Home Affairs offices in central Durban.
Xaba said the minister should initiate a process to relocate the immigrants to government facilities or detention centres designated for people who have fled their countries.
According to Xaba, many of the immigrants have expressed fears for their safety in the communities where they had previously been living, making it difficult for them to return there.
He stressed that the municipality does not have adequate facilities to accommodate them and warned that it was unacceptable for people to continue living on the streets without access to basic services such as water, sanitation and food.
