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UN agency in SA ‘flooded by calls from refugees’

BY XOLISA PHILLIP

Somali trader. Picture: ALON SKUY/THE TIMES
Somali trader. Picture: ALON SKUY/THE TIMES

A TOTAL of 848 Somali refugees left SA last year for friendlier countries, while 1,206 others are awaiting results of resettlement applications.

The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in SA resettled more than 1,000 refugees last year, most of them Somalis.

Refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo were the second-largest group at 161, followed by 23 Ethiopians and 12 Burundians.

Four Zimbabweans, 10 Rwandans, one Sudanese, seven Afghans and two Eritreans were also on the list.

The three most popular destinations were the US, Canada and Australia, the UN body’s spokeswoman, Tina Ghelli, said on Monday.

Some Nordic states also accept resettlement applications.

However, the process was long and could take up to three years, Ms Ghelli said.

The UNHCR had been inundated with calls in the wake of SA’s latest wave of xenophobic violence.

The commission had even set up a special mission in the Eastern Cape because of the high rate of attacks against Somalis, she said.

“Although we have been getting a lot of calls from people, our first option is local integration. Resettlement is not an overnight thing,” Ms Ghelli said.

The commission also uses avenues such as voluntary repatriation and resettlement.

Those who qualified for the latter were identified based on specific criteria, for example, those who had been attacked more than once or had been tortured, said Ms Ghelli.

“The US takes most Somalis, followed by Canada,” she said.

 Source: BD Live

 

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