In the media
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14 May 2015
Times Live
Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) continued to question the legality of raids conducted under the government’s Operation Fiyela.
The organisation tweeted quotes from the head of its strategic litigation unit‚ David Cote‚ who said there were legal issues concerning warrants and the mandate of security forces deployed in the operation.
Operation Fiyela “was formed to root out certain crimes but if we look at stats‚ not many arrests are for crimes highlighted in mandate”‚ Cote said.
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14 May 2015
Daily Maverick
For hundreds of years, churches have been considered safe spaces for those in need. Not anymore. The last time South Africa’s churches have been invaded by the authorities was in the dark days of Apartheid – and then, too, the reasons were manufactured. By RUSSELL POLLITT.
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14 May 2015
Daily Maverick
For hundreds of years, churches have been considered safe spaces for those in need. Not anymore. The last time South Africa’s churches have been invaded by the authorities was in the dark days of Apartheid – and then, too, the reasons were manufactured.
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14 May 2015
Mail & Guardian Online
The raids across the country in the past three weeks under Operation Fiela-Reclaim are set to continue as long as they are required, Cabinet decided this week.
Acting Cabinet spokesperson Phumla Williams, speaking to the media on Thursday following a Cabinet meeting the day before, said the operation, which has resulted in the arrest of more than 800 undocumented migrants, was not specifically targeted at foreigners.
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14 May 2015
Al Jazeera
A semblance of normalcy is returning to the streets of the inner city of Johannesburg weeks after xenophobic violence hit South Africa's commercial capital.
The city appears to have just moved along, wearing the memory of violence in large billboards condemning the xenophobia that killed at least eight people, injured hundred and displaced thousands more in early April.
But behind the facade is a massive government operation targeting illegal foreign nationals that many have argue is "state xenophobia".
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14 May 2015
Business Day
THE Cabinet emphasised again on Thursday that the recent raids conducted by the police and soldiers on communities in and around Johannesburg were not targeting foreign nationals but were a response to complaints about crime hotspots.
The raids, which have been carried out under the banner of Operation Fiela Reclaim 2015, have come under heavy criticism for having potentially infringed on human rights and targeting migrants.
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12 May 2015
Voice of America
Human rights activists say South Africa's security forces are promoting xenophobic attacks and legitimizing hatred with their recent roundup and arrest of foreign nationals in Johannesburg and Durban. Many of those detained, they say, have been denied access to lawyers and basic amenities.
The xenophobic attacks that rocked South Africa last month have subsided, but activists say that for an estimated 300 to 400 African immigrants detained in a police sweep, the nightmare is far from over.
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13 May 2015
Mail & Guardian Online
The high court in Johannesburg halted the deportation of about 200 foreigners on Tuesday after a legal challenge by a human rights group, which said authorities were unfairly targeting them following xenophobic riots in which seven people were killed.
More than 800 undocumented migrants have been arrested across South Africa in the past three weeks under “Operation Fiela”, a series of raids launched after last month’s violence which was centred on the province of KwaZulu Natal.
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13 May 2015
Talk Radio 702
The irregularities of government's inter-departmental Operation Fiela are currently under scrutiny by Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR). Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba has defended the operation, saying it is about the state re-organising life in areas ridden with crime. In recent weeks, there have been aggressive early morning raids in parts of Joburg's CBD, including the Central Methodist Church - a home for many undocumented immigrants.
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13 May 2015
Eyewitness News
Days after hundreds of people were arrested in central Johannesburg on Friday morning, many still could not access a lawyer. While the state has been ordered to respect the rights of those detained, hundreds of people in other Operation Fiela-Reclaim raids have been arrested across the country. The situation is ripe for human rights abuses against foreigners.
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