Somalis march in Cape Town against South Africa attacks

Cape Town June 08, 2013(SDN) -Members of the Somali community in South Africa have marched to parliament in Cape Town to protest against recent attacks on foreigners. Three Somalis have been killed this month and the Somali government has requested the South African authorities to do more to protect their nationals.  About 200 people took part in the protest, holding a banner reading: “Everyone is a foreigner somewhere.” Correspondents say xenophobic attacks have increased recently.

Some of the protesters accused the authorities of not doing enough to prevent attack on foreigners, especially Somalis, or prosecute those responsible. Two Somali brothers were allegedly hacked to death with an axe in the northern Limpopo province on Thursday night.

Last week, Abdi Nasr Mahmoud was stoned to death in Port Elizabeth. Mohamed Aden Osman told the BBC that criminals saw Somalis as “soft targets”. According to the Centre for Human Rights at the University of Pretoria, South Africans are becoming “increasingly desensitised” to attacks on foreigners, The Sowetan newspaper reports. The BBC’s Mohammed Allie in Cape Town says the violence is linked to the massive unemployment among young South Africans.

In the past two decades, many thousands of Somalis have fled conflict at home and moved to South Africa, where many have opened small shops and kiosks in townships.

Source: BBC