Fight Anti-foreigner Violence, Group Tells Zuma
A year after a surge in attacks on immigrants in the country, a group is asking new President Jacob Zuma to do more to confront xenophobia, reports the BBC. The organization, the Consortium for Refugees and Migrants, says that the attacks have not ceased and called on authorities to investigate the problem. “Little has been done by authorities to address the root causes of the violence and as a result, threats of violence against foreigners remain common in some communities,” a statement from the group read. Last year, more than 60 immigrants (mostly from neighboring Zimbabwe and Mozambique) were killed and thousands were displaced when they were attacked by mobs, many of whom blamed them for the nation’s lack of jobs and crime problem. Twenty-one native South Africans, thought to be foreigners, were also mistakenly killed, reports the BBC. Officials in the country, however, said there have been few attacks since then and that they had done all they could to prevent them from occurring in the future.
 

Peacekeeper Murdered in Darfur Attack
An African Union-United Nations Mission peacekeeper was shot and killed in Darfur late last week while being carjacked, reports CNN. The man, who served as a military observer, was shot by gunmen as he was opening the gate to his Darfur home and died soon after going to receive medical attention. Officials from the group are condemning the attack on one of their members, calling it “deplorable.” The mission is “here to assist the people of Darfur, and any attack on them is totally unacceptable …I would like to express my deepest condolences to the family of the peacekeeper who lost his life” Rodolphe Adada, a special representative, said in a statement. The group, along with Sudan’s government, is investigating the murder. The peacekeeper is the 15th killed since the mission was deployed in the nation last year, reports CNN.

TAGS: African National Congress, Darfur, Jacob Zuma, peacekeeper murdered, South Africa, Sudan

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