afrol News, 22 May - South Africa's neighbours are outraged by the ongoing xenophobic attacks, which started in the country's richest city of Johannesburg, spreading to the rest of the country last week. Citizens from neighbouring countries mainly are victims of the attacks.

The Malawian Human Rights Consultative Commission this week urged the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to act on xenophobia before it spreads in to the region. "SADC governments have a moral obligation to protect its citizenry wherever they maybe to the greatest possible and practical extent," said HRCC chairperson Undule Mwakasungula.

The statements follows a reported case of a Malawian killed in the attacks, while several others have been brutalised as the xenophobic attacks continues in South Africa. Malawian media have followed these events closely.

The Commission further lashed on reports of xenophobic attacks and killings on foreigners saying they were baseless and crude, adding that they are intolerable in the civilised global village. The statement further said the attacks, which had mainly affected the Zimbabweans residing in South Africa, has made it evident that Zimbabwe's crisis is a regional problem.

South Africa, which has resorted to silent diplomacy after it was assigned by SADC to intervene, now sees its citizens perpetrating acts of violence against Zimbabweans which could have been avoided, had South Africa executed its assignment, the Malawian Commission noted. The HRCC further questioned South Africa's ability to host the 2010 World Cup with the current xenophobic attacks in its country.

News released by the Mozambican state media AIM says this neighbour country has seen masses flooding the boarders in fear of violent attacks that foreigners had been faced with in the past week. Mozambicans are the largest group of foreigners in South Africa, following Zimbabweans.

"Mozambicans are returning home without relevant documentation and without any belongings, while those carrying documents and a few personal items are losing them as a result of the confusion caused by xenophobic attacks in South Africa," frustrated Mozambican custom officers stationed at the South African border told AIM. More than 10,000 Mozambicans have already returned home in panic.

Also in Lesotho, a small nation surrounded by South Africa and with a great work force across the border, the press and citizens are following the situation carefully. Nationals are outraged by the events, but also by the silence of their own government after having heard of the killing of a Mosotho man in the Alexandra township in Johannesburg yesterday.

While the population in South Africa's neighbouring countries is shocked by the violence, governments so far have fallen short of strong reactions, such as the case of Lesotho. The only official reaction to the violence was from a meeting of SADC ambassadors accredited to South Africa yesterday. Zambia’s High Commissioner to South Africa, Leslie Mbula, who chaired the meeting, expressed solidarity with the victims and challenged the South African people to accommodate people from other countries in the region because of a common shared history, culture and destiny.

No stronger wording was found in statements from any of the region's governments.

By staff writers

© afrol News

Related pages and feature

Current afrol News Top Stories