maximsnewsnetwork: SOUTH AFRICA: URBAN REFUGEES (UNHCR)

maximsnewsnetwork: 13 December 2009 - UNHCR: South Africa's influx of people seeking refuge and a way to survive has exacerbated tensions with the urban poor who are competing for the same limited resources. Fifty percent of the world's population or 3.3 billion people live in cities today. They are not alone- its estimated that more than 5 million refugees around the world live in urban areas. The growing divide between rich and poor in the country has exacerbated the tensions between the two groups which has sometimes erupted into brutal violence. SOUNDBITE (broken English) Hassan Abdi, Refugee from Somalia: They start attacking us, immediately, they broke the gates, some of them they came on top and they had broken all the things, they took all our property. Some of our brothers were killed. Most of them they run away to safety in town. And we didnt get any help from any person. The police were patrolling somewhere but they didnt help us. Me, I ran away to catch a taxi somewhere, but when I was standing in the road, some crowd of people attacked me and stabbed me and I run away to town. The perception that foreigners are getting a better deal than South African citizens has fueled a high level of xenophobia in the country. Thus the issue of helping asylum seekers and refugees is a politically charged one and makes the job of the UN refugee agency extremely complex. It treads a fine line to respond to the needs of both needy locals and refugees. SOUNDBITE (English ...

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