Event: Anti-Immigrant Attacks

AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTYou have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.Thousands Flee South Africa as Anti-Immigrant Attacks GrowA threat to all undocumented foreigners to leave the country by Tuesday has led many to set up street camps as they try to get out.A fence separates Charles Paul, a migrant from Malawi, from his South African girlfriend, Sanelisiwe Nxili, and their son, Kwakhanya Nxili in Durban, South Africa, on Thursday.June 26, 2026A street corner in the South African coastal city of Durban has become a bustling scene of desperation.Thousands of migrants crowd around colorful plastic sacks, boxes and trash bags carrying what belongings they could salvage before fleeing the country. Women tuck their babies under blankets. Vendors hawk solar-powered cellphone chargers and potato chips. Portable toilets, large green water tanks and makeshift showers fashioned from gray tarps are the only sanitation available.The people in this encampment, like the handful that have popped up around the country, have been stuck out here for days, sometimes weeks, after anti-immigration activists called on undocumented foreigners to leave South Africa by Tuesday, or face untold consequences.The activists have not explained what they plan to do to the immigrants who stay after the deadline, but even the threat has led thousands of immigrants, mostly from other African nations, to leave South Africa.Some immigrants have turned to consulates for help in leaving the country, overwhelming foreign missions and South African immigration authorities racing to process paperwork for families, many of them undocumented. Mobs have already attacked many immigrant homes and businesses.ImageMalawian nationals waited outside an informal encampment in Durban as they await repatriation.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into…