‘Extreme fear’ among immigrants as backlash sweeps South Africa

Protesters in Benoni, east of Johannesburg, call for the deportation of undocumented immigrants in South Africa. Photograph: Ihsaan Haffejee/Reuters View image in fullscreen Protesters in Benoni, east of Johannesburg, call for the deportation of undocumented immigrants in South Africa. Photograph: Ihsaan Haffejee/Reuters ‘Extreme fear’ among immigrants as backlash sweeps South Africa African migrants say legal status offers little protection as rallies against illegal immigration gain momentum African migrants in South Africa say they are living in fear after a series of marches calling for illegal immigrants to leave reignited long-held xenophobic sentiment in the country. March & March, a campaign group at the forefront of recent protests, has given people living illegally in the country until 30 June to leave, without specifying what will happen to those who do not. Mozambique said five of its citizens were killed in “xenophobic attacks” at the end of May. South African police said two Mozambicans and one South African had died during an outbreak of violence in Mossel Bay on the south coast. Roughly 60 miles south-east of Cape Town, about 100 people from Mozambique and Malawi sought shelter in Kleinmond town hall last week after an angry crowd told foreigners in an informal settlement they had to leave. View image in fullscreen Displaced people shelter in Kleinmond town hall. Photograph: Esa Alexander/Reuters Many told Reuters news agency they wanted help from their governments to return home. Ghana has arranged flights for several hundreds of its citizens to leave South Africa. “Every day and almost everyone I meet, they are in fear, extreme fear,” said an Ethiopian entrepreneur who moved to South Africa in 2000 and is married to a local woman. The couple have a 19-year-old daughter. “The sad part is it’s not because they are undocumented … But none of the legal documents will protect you from the violence.” South Africa has long imported migrant labour, particularly to work in its mines. After his election in 1994 ended white-minority rule, Nelson Mandela welcomed African migrants. Meanwhile, poverty and economic strife in many neighbouring countries, including hyperinflation in Zimbabwe, pushed people south. View image in fullscreen Protesters carry traditional weapons and banners at an anti-immigration rally in Gauteng province. Photograph: Kim Ludbrook/EPA Endemic unemployment and inequality led many South Africans to blame African immigrants for their problems, with resentment periodically erupting into violence. Sixty-two people were killed during riots in 2008, among them 21 South Africans, and more than 150,000 were displaced. In 2015 , at least five people were killed. The proportion of South Africans who said they would welcome all immigrants fell from a quarter in 2020 to 15% last year, according to surveys by the Human Sciences Research Council , a state body. The unemployment rate has risen by 3.4 percentage points to 43.1% since