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Foreign nationals in South Africa face “routine” harassment, violence and discrimination by locals and government authorities, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Thursday.
The group said xenophobia remained widespread in South Africa despite a government action plan implemented in May 2019 to combat “intolerance.”
Foreign workers are often victims of anti-immigrant sentiment in South Africa, the continent’s most industrialized economy, where they compete with locals for jobs, particularly in low-skilled sectors.
In a 64-page report, HRW said that foreigners are the scapegoat for economic insecurity in one of the world’s most unequal societies, where unemployment is above 30 percent.
He broadcast the testimonies of more than 50 African and Asian citizens of “routine” and “sometimes lethal” xenophobia.
A Bangladeshi shop owner told the group that his business was looted during an episode of xenophobic violence last year.
He was then forced to stand guard in the ransacked facilities for three days without sleep before the police finally intervened.
“I am so angry,” said another Congolese shop owner also affected by the 2019 raids.
Anti-immigrant sentiment can degenerate into mass violence, but it also manifests itself on a daily basis.
Foreigners told HRW that they sometimes suffered verbal and physical harassment in their daily interactions with locals.
A common insult in South Africa is “kwerekwere”, a derogatory word for “foreigner”.
In August last year, Congolese student Donette Ngonefi was allegedly beaten by her fellow students for being chosen as a class supervisor at a Cape Town high school, according to the report.
Ngonefi was hospitalized for nine months and still had not returned to school a year later.
Xenophobic attacks left at least 62 people dead in 2008, while another seven died from similar riots in 2015.
Violence flared again in September last year, when armed mobs attacked foreign-owned companies in and around Johannesburg’s financial center.
The ensuing clashes left at least 12 dead, 10 of whom were South African, according to the government.
HRW accuses law enforcement officials of being complicit and often acts in a “discriminatory” and “abusive” manner towards non-nationals.
It claims that foreign-owned companies are disproportionately attacked by the crackdown on counterfeit products and that migrants are arbitrarily detained for allegedly lacking proper documents.
According to the group, the police are reluctant to protect immigrants and investigate crimes against foreigners.
The report calls for “more urgent and concrete measures” to protect foreign nationals, stating that the government’s plan has been “just words on paper” until now.
Author Kristi Ueda condemned the culture of “impunity” that “only emboldens others” and perpetuates violence against non-nationals.
“Non-South African citizens have suffered wave after wave of xenophobic violence and live in constant fear of being attacked,” Ueda said.
“The government must hold those responsible to the fullest extent of the law.”
The home affairs department did not respond to requests for comment.
South Africa has long been a magnet for economic migrants seeking better job prospects in the region.
The country attracts people from neighboring Lesotho, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.
Others come even further afield, such as the Congo, Ethiopia, Malawi, Nigeria, and South Asia.
South Africa hosts more than 2.2 million foreigners, from political refugees and economic migrants to skilled expatriate workers, according to the latest 2011 population census.
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