While the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) says raiding hijacked buildings is necessary to disrupt criminal networks, foreign nationals living in the Point area of Durban, where more than 120 undocumented foreigners were recently taken into custody, have called for better treatment from police and the government.
Last month, in an effort to reclaim hijacked buildings and rejuvenate the City, police raided six buildings in South Beach and more than 123 undocumented foreign nationals were arrested.
Gareth Newham, director of the Justice and Violence Prevention Programme at ISS, said law enforcement raids on hijacked buildings is necessary to disrupt criminal networks that make use of them.
However, he said that often the people who orchestrate the hijackings of buildings do not live in them.
Newham said that ideally, police should be gathering intelligence on the kingpins who probably live in upmarket suburbs in and around Durban and are able to hold them accountable.
He said once authorities have secured the buildings from criminals, they will need to use asset forfeiture or confiscation processes to take control of the buildings so that they can be upgraded and formalised.
“This will require finding accommodation for those living in the buildings who are not criminals or are undocumented, so that they can refurbish the building. These can either then be run by the state or sold to private investors.
“Ideally, those that are residential (properties) should be turned into mixed accommodation that services various income groups near economic activities,” said Newham.
Africa Refugee Social Co-operations general secretary and acting chairperson of the Southern Africa Refugee Organisations Forum in South Africa, Eric Jean Butoki Madel, said they were against the raids. Madel said they were not advocating for illegal migrants and believe that there was a problem with the Department of Home Affairs processing foreign nationals.
“While they are not processing people, there are genuine refugee and asylum seekers who are being penalised. Among those who were arrested during the raids were documented people who are still in custody but they do have documents,” he said.
Madel noted that some people re-enter the country after they are deported, while some are persecuted.
He called on the government, especially Home Affairs, to process people to determine whether there are genuine refugees among the people being deported.
“The Mercury” visited the Point area on Monday and spoke to foreign nationals, who requested not to be named, about their experiences with recent raids.
A documented Congolese man, who has been in the country since 2005, called on police and authorities who conduct raids to treat foreign nationals like human beings. “Raids are continuous almost every week. The problem is that they don't have respect for foreigners.
“I understand that there are illegal immigrants, but at least when they come they must have a human approach or ubuntu.”
“We don’t have value as refugees in this country, they don’t consider us.
“Whenever they come during the operations, they take you as a criminal, they don’t look at us like human beings,” he said.
He said he was detained at the back of a police van for four hours in the recent raid while police verified his documents. He appealed for authorities to carry machines to enable them to verify documents faster.
The man also highlighted that during these raids, police carrying large guns and some wearing masks take their money and cellphones.
“They tell us to lay down on the floor and they loot us; some people lose their rent money, others lose their business money.”
Another foreign national said his nephew was arrested in the recent raid because his papers had expired.
He said his brother died last month.
“The son is documented but his papers expired because he was under his father’s documents. Whenever they go to Home Affairs to apply for the papers, they always give them stories.”
A 59-year-old woman said she came to the country about 20 years ago legally and one of her children, who she listed on her documents, was arrested during the raid.
The Mercury