Refugees in Cape Town gathered at the Central Police Station to hand themselves over for arrest after having been evicted and removed.
They had been camping an empty space close to the Peninsula University of Technology, after they were evicted from the St. Mary’s church just opposite the national parliament and removed from Green Market Square following a High Court order.
The sheriff of the court gave the refugee the options to either to get into buses that will take them to their homes or face arrest for trespassing.
The Cape Town city law enforcement officials kept a close watch on the foreigners as they occupied an empty space close to the Peninsula University of Technology.
The around 200 refugees moved to the nearby police station to be arrested after having being read their eviction notice.
The city of Cape Town says during the afternoon it had arrested three men aged 17, 38 and 41 on charges of assaulting a police officer, contravening a court order and resisting arrest. Eight others were arrested earlier by the SAPS.
Meanwhile the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has reiterated that it is in no position to relocate protesters to a third country.
600 refugees spent Christmas at the Methodist Church in Cape Town in December 2019:
In December last year refugees living in the Cape Town Central Methodist Church demanded to be repatriated to another country other than their countries of origin.
More than 600 refugees camped in the church for months after being evicted from the UNHCR premises in the Cape Town CBD.
