South Africa
Africans seeking asylum at a United Nations office in South Africa have been forcibly removed by police stating that their action amounted to tresspassing.
On Wednesday, a court order was granted instructing the 300 refugees camping there since 7 October, to vacate the area within three days, local media outlets reported.
Hundreds of asylum seekers had been camping for weeks now in makeshift structures in front of the offices of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in the capital Pretoria.
Many came into SA fleeing life threatening situations of war, epidemics and violence from the DRC and other neighbouring southern countries and say the South African authorities have been delaying the regularization process for their status.
Most of them say they no longer feel safe after the last wave of xenophobic violence that killed at least 12 people in September.
In Cape Town (south-west), they organized the same operation, but were expelled manu militari at the end of October. In Pretoria, justice ordered them Wednesday to evacuate the place under 72 hours.
00:27
Malian refugees turn to firefighting to give back to their communities in Mauritania
01:00
Gaza's displaced struggle with heavy rain and cold weather in fragile tents
02:16
40,000 flee DRC fighting into Burundi
01:12
Mozambique: surge in violence displaces more than 100,000 people
01:24
Death toll in South Africa shooting rises to 12 after one victim dies in hospital
Go to video
3-year-old boy among 11 people killed in South Africa shooting