Durban police are investigating allegations that foreign nationals were assaulted and intimidated at the Diakonia Council of Churches’s Diakonia Centre, where hundreds of migrants sought refuge following anti-immigrant tensions in the city.
More than 300 foreign nationals gathered at the facility after claiming they had been threatened and forced to flee their homes.
Tensions escalated on Thursday when anti-immigrant protesters gathered outside the centre, prompting police to form a human barrier between demonstrators and the refugees to prevent violence.
The Congolese Solidarity Campaign alleged that several migrants were assaulted during the confrontation.
A member of the March and March movement, Nhlanhla Mqadi, denied claims that protesters had attacked refugees and said confusion broke out after demonstrators confronted a man who was recording them.
Mqadi said the group also questioned a foreign national who had arrived with a young child during the unrest.
“He’s a foreign national, by my judgment,” Mqadi said. “I asked him why he was bringing a young child there, especially a girl, given the tension and chaos at the scene.”
According to Mqadi, another individual from within the group took the child away from the man after agreeing that the environment was unsafe.
He claimed the situation escalated when people mistakenly believed an assault was taking place.
“They started fighting amongst each other, and others thought we were attacking someone,” he said.
Police have not yet confirmed the assault allegations, and investigations into the incident are ongoing.