Pretoria - Yesterday marked two months since at least 70 victims of xenophobic attacks set up camp outside the United Nations (UN) refugee office in Brooklyn, Pretoria, seeking alternative and safer homes outside of South Africa.
The Pretoria News visited the women, men and children who have survived the cold days and nights of winter, with them showing resolve that there was absolutely no interest to reconcile with the communities that attacked and disrupted their lives in 2019.
Elize Andom spoke for the group, sitting on a bucket and putting her out-of-school daughter just outside their tent, while her other two children fought to charge her phone with small hand-held solar panels.
Other women in the community were washing clothes while others made fires and cooked meals with various kinds of metal containers. Everybody seemed to be busy with something productive for their survival.
Andom said: “This Sunday is now a full two months since we have been here after we were attacked and brought here by officials from Lindela Repatriation Centre. We have been waiting for assistance, and for a long time thought nobody cared enough.
“However, this Thursday we finally had UN officials from immigration who checked our documentation, who verified that we are indeed refugees. They said they will come see us again this week from Tuesday, because Monday is a holiday for them.
“We told them we just want another home; anywhere but South Africa and DRC Congo. What happened to us has left us scarred and traumatised. I want to see my three children safe. I am sure I speak for all the other parents here.
“There is no peace at home in DRC Congo so we are not going back there. However, we also want to leave South Africa and will live anywhere, as long as we will be treated right and so that our children can go to school in peace.
“We are surviving the cold by God’s grace. We live here in the street because we do not want South Africa anymore. We do not want to reconcile. I was doing so many things in the Johannesburg CBD, from running a restaurant to selling indigenous food and second hand goods, but when I was attacked they burnt everything.”
Andom said they sometimes received small donations from neighbours, but since they were all people who used to work for themselves and are just wanted to be migrated to a safer country, and continue doing everything for themselves.
UN refugee office spokesperson Laura Padoan said the agency was concerned for the welfare of the people living outside the office in Pretoria. “The individuals have been offered accommodation and a local integration package. For those who desire to return home to their countries of origin, we will assist them to return voluntarily where it is safe for them to.
A number of refugees have expressed interest in this option. It is not possible to offer resettlement to refugees on a group basis.
Resettlement places are extremely limited and only offered by host governments to the most vulnerable refugees. We will continue to provide counselling to the refugees and hope that a solution can be found as quickly as possible so that families are not living on the streets in cold, unsanitary conditions.”
Pretoria News