Refugees from Kenya on Wednesday, April 19 were left stranded and forced to camp outside the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHRC) in Tshwane, South Africa after being evicted.
The individuals who fled Kenya were among over 200 asylum seekers from Burundi, Uganda, and South Sudan.
In a ruling made by the High Court in Pretoria, the refugees were to be transferred to the Lindela repatriation centre in Krugersdorp where they will be hosted for six months.
"Provide accommodation at Lindela in a separate section where food, bedding, and other necessities will be provided and all families will be kept together. The facility will not be a detention facility and the refugees will be free to come and go as they please," read part of the court ruling.
"Please take note that any individual who refuses to be relocated and/or remain at the affected area after the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) vehicles have left and/or who become violent will be apprehended by the South African Police Service," the judgment read on.
According to the refugees, the new arrangement was unacceptable since the conditions in Lindela were deplorable with pathetic medical care facilities.
The asylum seekers demanded that the authorities should take them to a different country safe from xenophobia.
"Going back home is not an option because it is not safe. Most of us want to be repatriated to a third country but authorities argue this is impossible," one stated.
On their part, the officials held that the demand to be repatriated to a different country was unrealistic.
They defied the court ruling and camped outside the offices, a place they have called home since 2019.
Furthermore, they called upon the South African governments to deconstruct and construct a better immigration system for refugees and asylum seekers in the country.
Notably, the refugees fled their home countries due to civil issues, especially in war-torn areas like the Congo.
