More than 3,000 Malawians, including hundreds of children, are staying in an open field in South Africa’s port city of Durban, after fleeing escalating anti-immigrant threats and attacks.
The unrest is pushing thousands to seek an escape. Nigeria repatriated a first group of 260 nationals on Thursday and plans to move out more of its citizens in the coming days. Ghana, Mozambique, and Malawi have carried out similar operations in recent weeks.
For weeks, groups armed with sticks, whips and shields have marched through parts of South Africa demanding that foreigners with no papers leave by June 30.
South Africa has faced recurring waves of xenophobic violence since 2008, when dozens of migrants were killed and thousands displaced. Three million foreigners — about five percent of the population, more than 63 percent of them from within the Southern African Development Community bloc — live in the country.
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