South African Police Arrest 100 People Protesting Against Xenophobia

Last updated on September 11th, 2021 at 03:15 pm

The South African police on Wednesday arrested 100 people as part of an operation to disperse a group of refugees and asylum seekers, who had staged a prolonged sit-in near the UN refugee agency in Cape Town.

The refugees and asylum seekers have been camping outside the offices of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees for weeks.

They were asking to be moved out of South Africa, where they said they did not feel safe after a wave of xenophobic violence.

Local media showed footage of police firing water cannon into the crowd of protesters, some of whom were visibly distressed or had small children strapped to their backs, and removing personal items like clothes, sleeping bags and cooking equipment from the street.

The South African Police Service (SAPS) said in a statement they moved in to evict around 300 people from the area in accordance with a court order.

“About one hundred people have been arrested after they failed to heed the call to disperse,” the police said.