Cape Town - After weeks of protests, and foreigners camping outside the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) offices at Waldorf Arcade in Cape Town, chaos erupted when the asylum seekers were violently removed by police.
The confrontation occurred after a court order was granted on October 18 at the Cape Town Magistrates Court following an application by the building landlord to evict the group.
More than 5000 refugees and asylum seekers have been camping at the UN offices demanding the agency to take them out of the country, as they felt unsafe.
Many on social media have reacted in shock and horror to the videos that have circulated of the refugees being removed.
REFUGEES PROTEST | Dramatic visuals of crying children, and foreign nationals being dragged by police were seen after chaos erupted outside the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) offices at Waldorf Arcade on Wednesday.
— Cape Argus (@TheCapeArgus) October 30, 2019
Picture: Henk Kruger/African News Agency pic.twitter.com/xX6XkH5o59
@peterjohnmoses: "I’ve walked past this protest action a few times over the last week or so.. These people have been peacefully occupying a space until their demands are heard! Meeting them with violence & intolerance shows how far we have fallen as a country @CyrilRamaphosa this is despicable."
@Afrika_kaNguni: "This is painful...When we cannot protect our own black mothers, children and vulnerable. This #cyrilramaphosa regime need for us to unite and fight against this oppression. This is becoming a verwoed state."
@ant_089: "Haibo this looks like a movie."
@konstantly_Rae: "Watching this made me cry at my desk. imagine this being your life. those children screaming oh my god."
@Mrmnyoni: "This is sad, I am sure there is a better way to deal with this situation."
@ajnarsee: "This is horrible! Police are brutally removing women and children! #Refugees"
Police spokesperson Novela Potelwa said members of the public order police have taken action against people embarking on a sit-in protest at the Waldorf building.
“About one hundred people have been arrested after they failed to heed the call to disperse. The police are in the area to support the sheriff in executing a court order to evict about 300 refugees and asylum seekers who have been occupying the building in a sit-in protest for quite some time,” she said.
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/hashtag/Refugees?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Refugeessays they want to go and leave SA. @IOL @TheCapeArgus ape pic.twitter.com/tVMVganWWF
— Sisonke Mlamla (@SISONKE_MD)
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/hashtag/Refugees?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Refugeesin Pictures @IOL @TheCapeArgus pic.twitter.com/OpBJ7Pgv8w
— Sisonke Mlamla (@SISONKE_MD)
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/hashtag/refugees?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#refugeescamped out outside the @Refugees
offices in Cape Town for three weeks
Pictures: @CourtneyAfrica, @henkkruger73 and Phando Jikelo / @AfriNewsAgency pic.twitter.com/K9wYlbe37I
— IOL News (@IOL)