South African human rights groups have called on government to stop the arrests of undocumented foreign nationals, saying it further stigmatises foreign nationals. Over the last few weeks, the South African government has deployed large numbers of police and the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) to conduct a series of raids in various parts of South Africa, most notably in the Johannesburg CBD. On Thursday, Operation Fiela was also carried out in Mitchells Plain Town Centre, where a number of foreign traders were arrested.

While government has claimed these raids are to address crime, in reality, these organisations believes this strategy targets foreign nationals living in the inner city, with the government implying that these individuals are criminals.

In April, the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Migration initiated “Operation Fiela”, which means “sweep the dirt,” ostensibly to address crime. This operation, executed by SAPS and the SANDF, has focused primarily on foreign nationals, and has so far included a raid on residents of the , which was previously a safe haven for poor migrants seeking refuge. Those arrested are to have their status verified by the Department of Home Affairs.

“We echo the many human rights advocates who say that Operation Fiela, and similar actions by the state, are clear examples of institutionalised xenophobia. The name of this campaign alone is of concern, and allows for an interpretation that the government sees those who are most marginalised in our country – migrants and refugees, sex workers and others – as “dirt” that should be removed from society. Such designations exacerbate anti-foreigner sentiment, and are extremely incendiary and dangerous,” said Wayne Ncube, head of Immigration Detention at Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR).

The LHR have confirmed that the outcome of these raids is not the combatting of crime, but mass arrests of both foreign migrants and South African nationals. Ncube says that where they have been given access to visit detained migrants, many have reported that their arrests were conducted in a violent manner, with some police referring to them as “kwerekwere” – a derogatory term used to describe African foreign nationals in particular.

“We welcome the South Gauteng High Court’s affirmative ruling on Tuesday May 12, on LHR’s application to halt the deportation of arrested, undocumented migrants, which was meant to take place yesterday. LHR will now be able to consult with these migrants, who may include asylum seekers and refugees. While the halting of the deportation is a positive step, it is not enough,” he says.

“We are calling on government to immediately fully end Operation Fiela, and similar activities, which only serve to make foreign migrants more insecure in South Africa, and go against previous promises of government, in the face of xenophobic violence, to build social cohesion.”

The arrests of hundreds of men and women through Operation Fiela have reportedly resulted in the loss or confiscation of property of foreign nationals, including the documentation that many migrants and refugees are holding to show that they are legally in South Africa.

The NGO’s reports that families are being torn apart, as men and women are often separated from each other and their children; adults are being sent to the Johannesburg Central Police Station while children are taken, sometimes without their parents, to refugee camps.

“We found a four-month-old baby at the Mayfair Refugee Camp, left there without his mother or father, surviving on the breast milk of a lactating mother also in the camp,” says Demelza Bush, Multimedia Associate at Sonke Gender Justice.

“This type of treatment is immoral and cruel.” VOC