Ugandan immigrants in South Africa are living in fear due to intensified police crackdowns targeting undocumented migrants, leading to arrests and imprisonment.
A Ugandan resident in Durban, speaking anonymously via phone, described the situation as tense.
“We are currently living in fear as many of our colleagues are in prison due to lack of asylum papers. Police are very tough on us; even when they find you walking on the streets or driving, they will arrest you so long as you are not documented,” the resident said.
The resident said out of South Africa’s nine provinces, the ratio of Ugandan immigrants detained in prisons is significant, across Gauteng, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Western Cape, Mpumalanga, Limpopo, and other provinces.
We have been told that two Ugandans are currently serving sentences in Durban, while five others from Pietermaritzburg have been detained, with one appearing before the Amanzimtoti Magistrate Court in KwaZulu-Natal.
Efforts by community organizations to secure the release of detained Ugandans have been largely unsuccessful, according to our sources.
The source noted that South African police are unresponsive to pleas from agencies, often sending detained immigrants to court or the Lindela Repatriation Centre near Johannesburg for deportation.
The Lindela facility, South Africa’s primary immigration detention center, has been criticized for overcrowding, human rights abuses, and poor conditions, including inadequate food, bedding, and medical care.
Yet despite the police crackdown, many Ugandan immigrants have decided not to give up and return home because some say they dont have where to start from at home.
