Johannesburg - South African authorities needed to tackle longstanding impunities to end its fight with xenophobia, Amnesty International South Africa's executive director, Shenilla Mohamed, said on Friday.
“For many years, South African authorities have largely failed to address past outbreaks of xenophobic crimes that have been seen in the country since at least 2008, including bringing those suspected to be responsible to justice. Political leaders must stop making discriminatory and inflammatory remarks about migrants and foreign nationals especially during their election campaigns ahead of the polls.
“South African authorities must ensure effective protection for refugees, migrants and asylum seekers against xenophobic attacks. The government must take concrete steps to hold suspected perpetrators to account. That begins with tackling impunity for past xenophobia-related crimes.” Cwele said that South Africa was spending significant amounts of money annually deporting illegal immigrants back to their countries of origin. He declined to state the exact amounts of money spent on the exercise while addressing the media in Pretoria.