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    Violence against foreign nationals under control- minister 

    by
    Admin
    Published on 27th May 2008 09:32 AM

    Pretoria - The violence against foreign nationals that have wracked South Africa for the past fortnight is under control, said Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula on Monday.

    "I do believe the situation is under control ... the violence has subsided," said Minister Nqakula at a briefing at the Union Buildings, following an inter-governmental task team meeting with President Thabo Mbeki.

    The team, which was established shortly ...

    African governments begin repatriating its nationals 

    by
    Oneword
    Published on 23rd May 2008 02:07 AM

    JOHANNESBURG - The governments of Mozambique and Zimbabwe have begun the "voluntary repatriation" of their citizens, in the wake of ongoing ...

    Govt to deploy specialised units to address violence 

    by
    Admin
    Published on 20th May 2008 03:37 PM

    Germiston - Government is to deploy specialised units to those areas in Johannesburg where attacks on foreign nationals have erupted, Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula said on Tuesday.

    The minister visited the Primrose Police Station on the East Rand along with Minister for Correctional Services Ngconde Balfour, ...

    Burning the welcome mat 

    by
    Admin
    Published on 20th May 2008 02:49 PM

    JOHANNESBURG, 19 May 2008 (IRIN) - The death toll in a wave of attacks targeting foreigners around South Africa's main city of Johannesburg has reportedly risen to 22, with an estimated 6,000 people seeking shelter in police stations, churches and community centres.

    Police spokesperson Director Govindsamy Mariemuthoo was quoted in The Star newspaper as saying on Monday that the situation was calm in the townships of Alexandra, in northern Johannesburg, and Diepsloot, southwest of the city, where the attacks started last week.

    However, ...

    ZIMBABWE/UK: No welcome mat for asylum seekers 

    by
    Admin
    Published on 16th January 2008 11:44 AM

    LONDON, 16 January 2008 (IRIN) - The British government's loud condemnation of human rights abuses in Zimbabwe led many Zimbabweans to assume they could find easy refuge in the United Kingdom: the reality for asylum seekers has been far less straightforward.
    According to Home ...

    KENYA: UN continues relief efforts 

    by
    Admin
    Published on 14th January 2008 12:37 PM

    Nairobi - As the death toll caused by post-election violence in Kenya climbs, the United Nations (UN) is continuing its relief efforts ahead of nationwide rallies next week called for by the opposition.

    The Kenya Red Cross Society announced that it has revised the death toll, which is up from the official number ...

    DRC: "The blood keeps flowing" 

    by
    Admin
    Published on 27th November 2007 11:36 AM

    MASISI, 27 November 2007 (IRIN) - Semivumbi Ntawiheba never used to be interested in politics. Growing up on a mountain farm close to Masisi town in the Democratic Republic of Congo's restive North Kivu, Ntawiheba lived only for his cattle.

    Then, two months ago, soldiers loyal to dissident General Laurent Nkunda attacked his village and took away some of the men aged between 12 and 50 for "conscription". ...

    CONGO: Disappeared but not forgotten: Brazzaville's missing refugees 

    by
    Admin
    Published on 21st November 2007 02:28 PM

    BRAZZAVILLE, 21 November 2007 (IRIN) - More than eight years and numerous court cases later, security officials, relatives and human rights advocates are still trying to find out what happened to the 'missing of Brazzaville Beach' - several hundred returning Congolese refugees who disappeared after being detained.
    ...

    SOUTHERN AFRICA: Stop Zimbabwean deportations say refugee organisations 

    by
    Admin
    Published on 13th November 2007 08:09 AM

    JOHANNESBURG, 8 November 2007 (IRIN) - A prominent international refugee organisation is calling for an end to the deportations of undocumented Zimbabweans by neighbouring countries.

    After a month-long fact-finding mission to the region, Refugees International (RI), a US-based non-governmental refugee advocacy group, published a bulletin, Zimbabwe Exodus, on its observations.

    "Large numbers of deportees regularly re-cross the borders illegally immediately after deportation, ...

    SOUTH AFRICA: Refugees being treated like 'animals' 

    by
    Admin
    Published on 24th October 2007 09:43 PM

    JOHANNESBURG, 24 October 2007 (IRIN) - An unannounced visit by a South African parliamentary committee to Cape Town's refugee centre last week found foreign nationals being treated like "animals" by officials responsible for running the centre.

    Although South Africa's Department of Home Affairs, whose duties include processing refugee applications, is routinely criticised for its treatment of foreign nationals, the aftermath ...

    ZAMBIA-ZIMBABWE: The Tonga: Left high and dry 

    by
    Admin
    Published on 7th September 2007 11:58 AM

    SINAZONGWE, 5 September 2007 (IRIN) - Fifty years after the Tonga people were forcibly removed from the Zambezi Valley to make way for the Kariba Dam between southern Zambia and northwestern Zimbabwe, the community is still trying to find its feet.

    Over the past decade a number of development programmes have been initiated to improve the Tonga people's lives, after their eviction by the former governments of Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) and Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) to make way for the hydroelectric power project that ...