Refugees stuck in Isipingo

06 May 2015 - 02:32 By Nivashni Nair

Displaced foreigners demanding to be sent to countries of their own choice will have to stay put. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees yesterday said it would not resettle about 200 protesting foreigners in another country at this stage.UNHRC spokesman Tina Ghelli said many of the 200 refugees, who are refusing to leave the closed Isipingo camp near Durban and move to Chatsworth, wanted to be relocated to Malawi, Mozambique and Botswana."We are not going to be undertaking resettlement interviews at this stage, as it could create a pull factor to the displacement sites," she said.Most of the 200 foreigners do not want to return to their countries of origin, mainly Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo, claiming their lives would be endangered.Ghelli said there were a few individuals influencing most of the foreigners."Those that were living in the Isipingo camp were not directly affected by the violence and went there after hearing about the threats to foreigners. They do have something to go back to. They simply locked up their residences and left."The ultimate decision as to whether someone is accepted for resettlement lies with the receiving host government and not the UNHRC," she said...

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