Rabia Mayet | rabiamayet@radioislam.co.za

18 June 2026

2-minute read

As documented refugees line the streets in Durban, forced to live and sleep outside the Home Affairs office, concerns have been raised by over 130 community civic organizations, trade unions and broader civil society, endorsing the recently established national campaign against xenophobia.

“All they are asking for is safety!” states activist Elle Lim Guan. These individuals, “abandoned by the state,” were chased out of the places they reside in by vigilante groups in different areas of the city. They are without food, water and shelter, and have repeatedly been attacked by the vigilante groups and the very police who are supposed to be protecting them.

The Mayor of Durban himself has given them only two options – either they return to their homes in the communities who do not want them back, or “they must be processed for deportation”; a direct violation of the Refugees Act. These people “cannot be repatriated,” Elle emphasizes, because as refugees, they do not have homes in their own countries to return to.

The South Africa Palestine Movement are co-ordinating with other civil society groups to provide blankets, clothing, hot meals and medication for these displaced people, among them mainly women and children. With refugee service centres already full to the brim, schools, churches, halls and community centres have been approached to provide places of shelter, but as yet, Elle says they have been unable to find a suitable place to accommodate them all.

Apart from the right to vote, legal refugees have the same rights as all other South African citizens, like the rights to food, water, freedom, safety and security. Many more documented migrants are likely to be displaced “even though they have full protection under the law,” Elle concludes.

Listen to the full interview with Ml Sulaimaan Ravat and guest Elle Lim Guan here.