Buses have started transporting refugees and asylum seekers who were camping outside the Department of Home Affairs Refugee Reception Office in Durban to the Lindela Repatriation Centre in Gauteng.
The relocation follows the group’s acceptance of a government offer to move them from the pavements around Moore Road and Che Guevara Road, where they had been living in makeshift shelters.
Many of the foreign nationals previously said they had nowhere else to stay and were willing to move if the government provided them with shelter.
“We just need shelter because we can’t be in the street forever.”
The transfer comes after tensions increased around the reception office, including demonstrations by the March and March Movement against undocumented immigration. Police were deployed to prevent confrontations between demonstrators and those camping outside the facility.
The Lindela Repatriation Centre, located on Gauteng’s West Rand, is ordinarily used to hold foreign nationals while their immigration status is determined or while they await repatriation.
Authorities have not yet disclosed how many people will be transported, how long the operation will take or how individual asylum and refugee cases will be handled after their arrival.
The departure of the buses marks the beginning of the government’s effort to clear the Durban encampment and resolve the prolonged accommodation crisis. SABC News
