‘We are being scapegoated’: Why refugees fear renewed anti-migrant violence in South Africa

A protest by March and March, an anti-immigration movement A September 30 deadline declared by South Africa's March and March, an anti-immigration movement that has led anti-migrant protests across the country this year, has renewed fears of violence among migrant communities.Refugees are also fearing fresh unrest as South Africa will hold local government elections on November 4, with migration emerging as an increasingly prominent political and social issue.“I am in hiding now because they say they are going to kill me for speaking about the rights of foreigners,” Al Jazeera quoted Bishop Raphael Bahebwa, a refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), as saying.Bahebwa has lived in South Africa for 26 years and has witnessed repeated flare-ups of anti-foreigner sentiment. But he says this year feels “different.”“It has been very tough. Never before have I experienced something like this,” he added.According to Kafuti Muyumba, another refugee from the DRC, many members of the refugee community were “afraid” to return to neighbourhoods where they had built businesses and lives. Muyumba, a small business owner and representative of the refugee community, said tensions had le...