said
Tuesday, 04 June 2013 13:39
THE prime minister of war-ridden Somalia on Monday took the drastic step of writing an "open letter" to President Jacob Zuma, calling on him to protect Somali nationals after a recent spate of attacks reminiscent of the 2008 attacks in South Africa on foreign African nationals.
His move was welcomed by a refugees and migrants’ organisations, after tensions flared in an apparent outbreak of xenophobic violence directed at Somalis in Diepsloot, west of Johannesburg, and Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape. Diepsloot residents had rioted against the Somali community after a Somali businessman allegedly shot dead two Zimbabwean nationals.
Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon’s high-level appeal follows the Mozambican high commissioner’s plea to local authorities over the death of taxi driver Mido Macia in Daveyton, after he was dragged by a police vehicle in an incident shown on TV around the world. He later died.
"I appeal to the government of the Republic of South Africa as a matter of urgency to intervene and contain this unnecessary and unfortunate violence against Somali business communities to preserve peace and stability," Mr Farah Shirdon said.
Mr Zuma landed in Japan on Friday last week to participate in the Fifth Tokyo International Conference on African Development Summit, in Yokohama, which started on Saturday. Speaking from Yokohama, spokesman Mac Maharaj said the Presidency would respond appropriately once the letter had been received.
The executive director of the Consortium for Refugees and Migrants in South Africa, Sicel’mpilo Shange-Buthane, on Monday welcomed the direct government-to-government engagement, saying the Somali government and other diplomatic nudging could encourage the South African government to seriously tackle the unacceptable levels of xenophobia gripping the country.
"We have been trying to get governments of affected foreign nationals to assist where they can and this is a welcome development from the Somali government," Ms Shange-Buthane said.
However, she said for some refugees the situation was particularly difficult because they had fled to South Africa because of political persecution in their countries of origin and could not openly call on their governments to intervene in the manner that Mr Farah Shirdon had.
Political analyst Steven Friedman said on Monday that it was appropriate for the Somali government to openly express such concerns and call for Mr Zuma’s intervention.
"It is not enough for the government to condemn xenophobic attacks and pretend as if it is something restricted to certain township areas while its immigration policy continues to portray refugees and economic migrants as a problem," he said.