As the world marks World Refugee Day, xenophobia is still common and South Africa is no exception. The United Nations Human Rights Centre in conjunction with the government works closely with police to protect refugees.
On World Refugee Day, our @RefugeesChief shares a message of hope to people forced to flee. pic.twitter.com/DC0l2DYGv2
— UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency (@Refugees) June 19, 2019
South Africa has no camps for refugees. They live among communities and this is often a source of conflict.
Ethiopian refugee, Tseguab Sori, says he has been living in South Africa for seven months.
Sori says refugees have challenges with people thinking they are here for luxurious reasons while they are here to escape from violence and political problems in their home country.
President of the Congolese Community in Port Elizabeth, Richard Kadima says that the South African constitution is respected and hopes that will also be the case soon in other African countries.
In South Africa, the majority of refugees are from Somalia, the DRC, Angola and Ethiopia. In 2014, Stats SA recorded 65 000 refugees and 230 000 asylum seekers in the country.
The purpose of World Refugee Day is also to influence people to be empathetic towards the plight and experiences of refugees and to discourage hate crimes and xenophobia.
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