US issues security alert in Durban after violence at Home Affairs - IOL

A strong police presence was deployed to the Home Affairs Refugee Reception Centre on Che Guevara Road in Durban on Wednesday where hundreds of foreign nationals were queuing to apply for asylum.

US Consulate General has warned its personnel and citizens to avoid Durban’s central business district after violence and reported looting targeting foreign nationals erupted amid a confrontation at a Home Affairs refugee centre.

The security alert followed clashes on Wednesday outside the Department of Home Affairs’ Refugee Reception Centre on Che Guevara Road, where thousands of asylum seekers had gathered to submit applications and supporting documents.

The consulate said US government personnel had been instructed to exercise “extreme caution” in the area and divert travel where necessary until further notice.

Tensions escalated when members of the anti-illegal immigration movement March and March arrived at the centre and disrupted operations.

Protesters carrying sticks and sjamboks reportedly forced about 1,000 asylum seekers from the queues that had formed around the facility.

Demonstrators also confronted police, accusing officers of protecting foreign nationals rather than South Africans.

The confrontation intensified as protesters pushed through police barricades and threw bottles and insults.

Public order police responded by firing stun grenades to disperse the crowd.

The asylum seekers had gathered following a Constitutional Court judgment and a subsequent Home Affairs directive requiring refugee offices to accept applications from people who report in person.

Large numbers of foreign nationals, including people from Ethiopia, Somalia, Bangladesh and Pakistan, were among those waiting outside the facility.

The unrest has raised concerns that tensions could flare again, with further protest activity reportedly possible on Thursday.

Meanwhile, tensions between the US and SA continue to escalate after the International Relations Minister, Ronald Lamola, and the US ambassador to South Africa, Leo Brent Bozell, pointed fingers at each other this week.