Durban refugees bussed from Durban's Che Guevara Road to Lindela Repatriation Centre - IOL

Foreign nationals camped outside the Department of Home Affairs Durban Refugee Reception Centre are being transportted by bus to Lindela Repatriation Centre in Gauteng on Tuesday.

Foreign nationals camping outside the Durban Refugee Reception Centre are being loaded onto buses for the Lindela Repatriation Centre in Gauteng on Tuesday.

More than 200 documented refugees have been living outside the Department of Home Affairs reception centre along Che Guevara Road, formerly Moore Road, since May 22. They seek assistance with their documentation and immigration-related matters. The refugees are from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Uganda, Mozambique and Tanzania. 

Refugee leader Bishop Raphael Bahebwa said more than 100 refugees, due to the desperate circumstances on the street, including the ongoing risk of violence, had agreed to go to Lindela.

“The majority of us, more than 250, have refused to go to Lindela, a place that is effectively a prison and is notorious for human rights abuses. We wish to be able to continue with our lives in peace and safety. Each person and each family has to make their own decision in this very difficult situation,” he said.

The Siyafana Sonke Action Campaign said that Gift of the Givers assisted in facilitating the provision of buses for this refugee group. The group claimed that the state has repeatedly ignored communications from them. There are rumours that there is an imminent police action to force the remainder of the refugees off the site outside the Che Guevara Refugee Reception Office,” Siyafane Sonke stated.

On Friday, KwaZulu-Natal Premier Thamsanqa Ntuli, together with the Ambassador of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to South Africa, John Kalunga Nyakeru, visited the site to assess the situation on the ground.

In recent weeks, the refugees have endured physical and verbal attacks from the March and March Movement. Ntuli called on officials to finalise the verification and repatriation process. He said the plan was to reintegrate those who are willing to return to their homes, which they fled in fear for their lives ahead of the anti-immigrant June 30 marches, and repatriate those who have undergone a verification process through Home Affairs.

Ntuli said the reintegration of those who are willing will go a long way in forging social cohesion and improving relations between locals and immigrants.

"The occupation on Che Guevara Road is in contravention of eThekwini Metro bylaws and poses a health risk. These conditions are not suitable for human habitation," he said.