Maputo, 5 May (AIM) – The governments of Mozambique and South Africa have joined efforts in order to discourage xenophobic acts committed by South African citizens against foreigners of African origin.
In recent months, various South African nationals have been carrying out anti-migrant protests against Africans, including Mozambicans. The focus of these xenophobic acts, which have been recurring, has been black Africans.
Discrimination against foreign nationals have also been leading to looting, displacement, harassment, and deadly riots, in informal settlements.
Some South African political parties (Action SA and Inkatha Freedom Party) have also joined demonstrations, claiming that they are protesting undocumented migrants.
According to Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Maria de Fátima Manso, speaking to reporters on Monday, in Maputo, this wave of xenophobia has led Mozambican President Daniel Chapo to travel to Pretoria for a meeting with his South African, Cyril Ramaphosa.
The secretary explained that the meeting is aimed at assessing the situation and seeking joint solutions that guarantee peaceful coexistence, in a context of growing tension in several South African cities, where foreign communities have been the target of protests and threats of expulsion.
“The government has been monitoring the situation for about two weeks, after the emergence of groups of South African citizens who began demonstrations against the presence of undocumented foreigners”, she said.
According to Manso, xenophobic acts have been taking place with greater intensity in Durban. “Over 300,000 Mozambicans reside in South Africa. At this delicate moment, they are facing terror, fear, and uncertainty about their future”, she said.
She guaranteed that despite the tense atmosphere, the Mozambican Embassy in South Africa “has not yet registered any deaths, physical assaults, or loss of property of Mozambican citizens resulting from these demonstrations.”
“In recent days, messages calling for protests in the cities of Cape Town, Johannesburg, Pretoria, and Durban have been circulating on social media, a fact that has raised the level of alert among the authorities”, she said.
According to the secretary, Mozambican Defence and Security Forces, in coordination with the South African police, are monitoring the situation, “with plans to reinforce the police and military contingent to contain the demonstrations and prevent outbreaks of violence.”
“Given the situation, the governments of Mozambique and South Africa are in regular contact with a view to mitigating the impact of these demonstrations. The government is creating conditions near the Ressano Garcia border to welcome national citizens who, for security reasons, wish to return to the country”, she said.
The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has already expressed his “deep concern at the reports of xenophobic attacks and acts of harassment and intimidation against migrants and foreign nationals.”
(AIM)
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