Ebrahim Mohamed Ali knows why his brother Abubakar was killed - it was because he was a Somali. What he does not understand is why the police have made no arrests since the murder in 2008.Abubakar Ali, 40, is among an estimated 357 foreigners killed during xenophobic violence over the past seven years.Disturbingly, activists and monitoring groups this week could cite just one case of a successful prosecution for the murder of a foreigner.Abubakar was killed in June 2008 in Fordsburg, three weeks after anti-foreigner violence broke out in Alexandra.''I'm scared," Ebrahim said. "I don't want them to kill me too."He said he had not been able to follow up on his brother's murder because he is illiterate.Amir Sheikh, chairman of the Somali Community Board, said at least 100 Somalis had been killed since 2008, and only a few of those cases had gone to court.''Abubakar was killed in his garage. Nothing was taken. Not the fancy cars in the workshop or even the money in his pockets. The police came to take his body away. We haven't seen them since," said Sheikh.Jean Pierre Misago, a researcher at the African Centre for Migration and Society based at the University of the Witwatersrand, has been tracking xenophobic attacks since 2008.In a report he is due to publish later this year, Misago says:In 2008, at least 62 people were killed, 670 wounded, dozens raped and more than 100000 displaced;Since mid-2008, almost every month there has been at least one attack on groups of foreigners;Between mid-2009 and late 2010, at least 20 foreigners were killed and more than 40 seriously injured, while at least 200 foreign-run shops were looted and more than 4000 people were displaced;In 2011, at least 120 foreigners were killed (five of them burnt alive), 100 were seriously injured and at least 1000 displaced; andIn 2012, there were 140 deaths and 250 serious injuries.According to the Southern Africa office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), up to March 2014, an estimated 300 incidents of violence against asylum-seekers and refugees had been reported.''The violence never stopped since 2008," said Misago. "What we've seen is that some people are arrested but very few cases go to court, either because it was withdrawn or the witnesses could not be traced or were too scared to testify."Misago said he knew of only one murder case that had been successfully prosecuted: the killing of Said Khalif, 17, and Badal Sheik Mohamed, 26, who were burnt to death in their shop in East London in January 2008.The suspect, identified as NNtamehlo, 29, was arrested and charged with murder and armed robbery. In November 2008, Ntamehlo was sentenced to 15 years in jail.Misago said that in 2008, 527 people were arrested for crimes related to xenophobia, mainly public violence, assault and housebreaking.More than 200 of the cases were withdrawn and only 70 resulted in guilty verdicts.Misago said the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) cited challenges that included witnesses who could not be traced and difficulties in finding interpreters.He said the failure to bring prosecutions for murder sent a message that the culprits had nothing to fear.''This leads to a culture of impunity and it's dangerous because they [killers] are getting away with it," Misago said."We haven't learnt anything since 2008. The South African government has lost its power to enforce law and order in the country. They have lost control and people are taking advantage."The NPA, asked about its apparent failure to bring murder prosecutions in the killings of foreigners, said it could not comment if it did not have the relevant case numbers.NPA spokesman Velekhaya Mgobhozi said that at a meeting last week, it was decided to appoint dedicated prosecutors in courts where crimes related to xenophobia came up for trial.But a spokeswoman for the UNHCR, Tina Ghelli, said: ''People want to see accountability. There needs to be a message that this can't be done without any impunity."For immigrants like Ebrahim, who came to South Africa after fleeing conflict and violence in his native country, there may be no choice but to return home.''I brought my wife and children. We came for a better life. But every day they tell us to go back home," Ebrahim said."If this doesn't stop, we might have to go back. We can't fight the whole country," he said...