Cape Town refugees turn to UN for help; some want to leave SA

Bellville Paint City refugees have been left to fend for themselves after a truck came and removed toilets and showers from the camp over the weekend. Picture: Phando Jikelo/African News Agency (ANA)

Bellville Paint City refugees have been left to fend for themselves after a truck came and removed toilets and showers from the camp over the weekend. Picture: Phando Jikelo/African News Agency (ANA)

Published Mar 9, 2021

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Cape Town – The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says refugees in Cape Town have approached them for support while others have expressed an interest in returning to their home countries.

This as a blame game has ensued across departments over who was in charge of the group of refugees relocated from the streets of Cape Town to the Paint City site in Bellville as well as the Wingfield site in Goodwood last year, under National State of Disaster regulations.

More than 600 refugees at the Paint City site were left stranded on Friday after showers and toilets were removed.

This after a contract between the supplying company and the UNHCR came to an end.

A refugee on the site, Caroline Shemi, yesterday said no one has come to their rescue.

“We are using blankets to cover ourselves while we shower, and we use plastics as toilets and throw the waste in dustbins. This is not good. We don’t hear from anyone, no one has come to help us or to talk to us.

“We are waiting on God. We don’t know what’s happening or what’s going to happen to us now.”

The refugees who have been living on the sites for nearly a year have now bemoaned the poor living conditions and the lack of physical distancing on their sites.

UNHCR spokesperson Kate Pond said they were supporting the refugees in looking for a feasible resolution to their situation.

“We and our partners are assessing and assisting families on a case-by-case basis, and will continue to do so as long as people need it. At present we are gearing up to support the first cohort of people wishing to reintegrate into the community.

’’We provide families with counselling and an assistance package tailored to their individual circumstances to ensure their reintegration is sustainable,” she said.

Upon visiting the site last year, the portfolio committee on home affairs said it was “concerned” by the general conditions, saying the conditions placed the “lives of the refugees in danger and do not conform to the generally accepted living standard for humans”.

Surrounding residents said they were also concerned.

Goodwood Ratepayers and Residents Association chairperson Faizel Petersen said there was an urgent need for intervention.

“There’s been no progress since we first went into lockdown level 1. We are again at lockdown level 1 and the refugees are still there. There’s a need for an urgent intervention.

“ There’s limited water points, very poor sewerage conditions, leading to puddles of water which pose health risks on top of the current Covid-19 pandemic.

“There’s no adherence to the safety guidelines pertaining Covid-19 on the site, which puts our communities at risk,” Petersen said.

Cape Times

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