Thousands of Malawian immigrants have descended on a makeshift repatriation camp in Durban, where they are being verified and processed in what Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber described on Monday as \u201ca heck of a big operation\u201d.<\/p>\n
Over the past week, Malawians have been gathering outside a community hall in Sherwood, seeking to return to their country of origin.<\/p>\n
Many people have been evicted from their homes, lost their jobs, or faced threats of violence in the wake of March and March\u2019s anti-immigrant campaign.<\/p>\n
Read: South Africa struggles with migrant exodus and economic unrest<\/p>\n
As the number of people swelled, conditions deteriorated, with limited access to water, food or sanitation.<\/p>\n
On Sunday night, those at Sherwood were transported to a new temporary repatriation site set up at Durban\u2019s Old Drive-In site.<\/p>\n
Immigrants we spoke to said the new site had more space and better living conditions. \u201cWe are relieved because here we can at least use proper toilets and have a place to wash,\u201d said one person.<\/p>\n
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\u2018Difficult operation\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n Schreiber, speaking to the media on Monday morning, said 7 000 people have either been deported or repatriated to Malawi, and an estimated 8 000 are still on site in need of processing.<\/p>\n The process has sped up since the new site was opened, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom a logistical point of view, we are starting to hit our stride on a very difficult operation.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Schreiber explained that each person has to be verified before they can be deported or repatriated. If a person is found to be in the country illegally, they have to be declared undesirable for a period of five years \u201cso that they can\u2019t come back\u201d.<\/p>\n Read\/listen: Most of the immigrants do not have passports, he said, and the Malawian High Commission is scrambling to issue group passports.<\/p>\n ADVERTISEMENT:<\/p>\n CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The South African Police Service is also screening immigrants to ensure they are not wanted for committing a crime.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve had one person already arrested who\u2019s wanted for rape of a minor,\u201d said Schreiber, \u201cWe can\u2019t allow people to just get a blank cheque and evade justice.\u201d<\/p>\n Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber was at the temporary repatriation site on Monday. Image: Tsoanelo Sefoloko\/GroundUp<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Schreiber said the success of the operation depends on collaboration, with the City of eThekwini providing facilities, the provincial government providing health services, SAPS for policing and law enforcement, and local businesses and NGOs that have stepped in to provide food and water.<\/p>\n \u201cIt must be done in a humane way that respects the rights of everyone who is here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u2018Bottomless pit\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n Meanwhile, about 500 people\u00a0who thought they were being repatriated to Malawi on four buses from Cape Town and three from Durban were taken to Johannesburg instead<\/span>\u00a0because the buses lacked the permits required to cross the border. They were dropped at the Malawian consulate in Sandton on the weekend.<\/p>\n ADVERTISEMENT:<\/p>\n CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n In addition to the people who have been relocated from Sherwood, scores of immigrants were being dropped off outside the site\u2019s gates on Monday. Some had arrived on Sunday night and were forced to sleep outside.<\/p>\n Dawood Musa said he came from Tongaat, north of Durban. His employer, fearing for his own safety, had told him to return home. But when he got to the drive-in site, he was turned away.<\/p>\n Read: Mariam Hassan said she arrived on Sunday afternoon but was left outside with her five-year-old daughter. \u201cThey told us there is no space for us here,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Cyril Mncwabe, Home Affairs\u2019 manager for KwaZulu-Natal, described the situation as \u201ca bottomless pit\u201d. He said those outside the gates would eventually be accommodated but would have to wait.<\/p>\n Sane Jambo said he intends to return to South Africa once the situation stabilises, as life in Malawi is difficult. \u201cI have a wife and children to support. In South Africa, I was able to take care of my family,\u201d said Jambo.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n #Malawians #Durban #home #Schreiber<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Thousands of Malawian immigrants have descended on a makeshift repatriation camp in Durban, where they are being verified and processed in what Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber described on Monday… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8691,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[8758,232,10780,10781],"class_list":["post-8690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-investing","tag-durban","tag-home","tag-malawians","tag-schreiber"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8690","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8690"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8690\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8691"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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