In March 2015, violent attacks against foreigners
erupted throughout South Africa, killing at
least seven people, and setting off panic
amongst the country’s 2 million immigrants.
Following the xenophobic attacks, many nations*
have called on their citizens to leave South
Africa for their own safety.
Violence against immigrants has seen a sharp
rise in years since apartheid in South Africa.
So we wanted to know, why are South Africans
killing foreigners?
Well, for decades, South Africa has been a
hotbed of xenophobia.
In May of 2008 alone, anti-foreigner riots
left more than 60 dead.
According to a study by the Southern African
Migration Project, South Africa is the most
xenophobic country in the Southern African
Development Community.
The study points to the 1994 post-apartheid
movement by the ruling African National Congress
as a big reason for the animosity.
A number of national programs designed to
bring the community together had the unintended
side effect of excluding outsiders, and bred
a sense of long-standing social resentment
amongst citizens towards immigrants.
This is evidenced by the fact that South African
xenophobia comes from every strata of society:
rich and poor, employed and unemployed, black
and white, and so on.
The most recent attacks have been blamed on
the comments of the Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini,
who announced that “foreigners should pack
their bags and go”.
This condemnation set off violence shortly
thereafter in the port city of Durban.
However, the UN has pointed to a labor dispute
between locals and foreigners back in March
as the primary catalyst for the most recent
wave of attacks.
One of the biggest complaints from South Africans
is that immigrants are, quote, “stealing
their jobs”.
In a country with a 25% unemployment rate,
along with an extremely high crime rate, immigrants
are an easy target for local frustrations.
One study found that amongst police officers,
87% believed that many of the country’s
undocumented immigrants were criminals, despite
no statistics supporting that accusation.
Despite the end of apartheid, South Africa
still faces many divisive challenges.
While the African National Congress has been
urging residents to stop the violence, it
seems that until unemployment, crime, and
social attitudes change, the problem is likely
to be ongoing.
Xenophobia and nationalism in the form of
neo-Nazism is also on the rise in Europe.
To learn about the frightening issue in detail,
check out our video here.
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