Bishop Raphael Bahebwa is in hiding, afraid he could be attacked for speaking out for the rights of foreigners in South Africa.
uncertain
he → attack → Africa
“I am in hiding now because they say they are going to kill me for speaking about the rights of foreigners,” he told Al Jazeera.
asserted
he → say → Jazeera
Bahebwa has lived in South Africa for 26 years, after arriving as a refugee from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
asserted
Bahebwa → live → Congo
In that time, he has watched antiforeigner sentiment flare repeatedly in the country he came to call home.
asserted
he → watch → country
But he says this year feels different.
asserted
year → say → ?
A September 30 deadline declared by March and March, an anti-immigration movement that has led protests across South Africa this year, has renewed fears of violence among migrant communities.
asserted
that → declare → communities
The group has called for undocumented foreign nationals to leave South Africa and has warned of further demonstrations if its demands are not met.
asserted
demands → call → demonstrations
For Bahebwa and other refugees in Durban, however, the distinction between documented and undocumented migrants offers little comfort.
asserted
distinction → offer → comfort
They say the hostility they experience on the streets rarely begins with a request to see their papers.
asserted
they → say → papers
Fears of renewed violence
South Africa will hold local government elections on November 4, in a campaign in which migration has become an increasingly prominent political and social issue.
asserted
migration → renew → which
For months, Bahebwa was among hundreds of refugees and asylum seekers who slept on the pavement outside the Durban Refugee Reception Centre on Che Guevara Road.
asserted
who → sleep → Road
They said they had fled their communities because they feared antiforeigner attacks.
asserted
they → say → attacks
They arrived outside the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) office seeking safety.
asserted
They → arrive → safety
Instead, the pavement became their home.
asserted
pavement → become → ?
For roughly four months, men, women and children slept outside, exposed to the elements and dependent on civil society organisations and volunteers for food and other necessities.
asserted
men → sleep → food
“It has been very tough,” Bahebwa said.
asserted
Bahebwa → say → ?
“Never before have I experienced something like this.”
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I → experience → this
Some of the migrants told Al Jazeera that conditions became desperate.
asserted
conditions → tell → Jazeera
They described irregular access to food and medication and said one man who had tuberculosis died while living at the camp.
asserted
who → describe → camp
Al Jazeera has not independently established the circumstances of his death.
asserted
Jazeera → establish → death
The camp was also not far removed from the hostility its residents said they had fled.
asserted
they → say → hostility
On September 3, members of March and March confronted refugees and asylum seekers living outside the centre.
asserted
members → confront → centre
Violence broke out, and police intervened.
asserted
police → break → ?
At least four people were reported injured.
asserted
people → report → ?
At another protest days later, police officers stood between the two groups, forming a barrier as tensions rose.
asserted
tensions → stand → barrier
March and March has described its mobilisation as a campaign against undocumented immigration, crime and deteriorating conditions in South African communities.
asserted
March → describe → communities
The group says the government’s response to immigration enforcement has been insufficient.
asserted
response → say → enforcement
Its leaders have repeatedly rejected accusations that their campaign is xenophobic and insist their target is undocumented migration rather than foreign nationals generally.
asserted
target → reject → accusations
Bahebwa said documented and undocumented migrants alike have been caught in the hostility.
asserted
migrants → say → hostility
Earlier this year, six refugees working in salons around Durban’s Warwick Street Market were beaten by men carrying sticks, according to public-interest news outlet GroundUp.
uncertain
refugees → work → GroundUp
Two were hospitalised.
asserted
Two → hospitalise → ?
Bahebwa said the migrants had also struggled to obtain help from the authorities after earlier attacks.
asserted
migrants → say → attacks
“Police said we can’t open cases because we are foreigners.
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we → say → cases
We had nowhere to go,” he alleged.
asserted
he → have → nowhere
Police have not publicly responded to that specific allegation.
asserted
Police → respond → allegation
In mid-September, the government moved to clear the makeshift camp outside the refugee centre.
asserted
government → move → centre
The refugees were given a choice: return to the communities they had fled or accept temporary accommodation at the Lindela facility in Gauteng, hundreds of kilometres from Durban.
asserted
they → give → Durban
Lindela is a government-run immigration detention facility used to hold people facing deportation.
asserted
Lindela → run → deportation
The choice divided them.
asserted
choice → divide → them
Some feared going to Lindela, a facility historically associated with immigration detention and repatriation.
asserted
Some → fear → detention
…and 37 more, not listed.
The Aporia
