Cops to send illegals home

2008-01-31 18:19

Johannesburg - Police said on Thursday they would deport hundreds of illegal immigrants seized in an overnight raid on a downtown church where hundreds of Zimbabweans had taken refuge.

Bishop Paul Verryn sheltered about 1 200 people at the Central Methodist Church, which has become a haven for Zimbabweans fleeing their own country's political and economic meltdown. Another 500 sleep on the street outside the church.

Verryn said police arrived at about 23:00 on Wednesday and began hauling people in pyjamas away in scenes reminiscent of apartheid-era raids. It took hours for police to take people by the vanload to the central police station.

Verryn said he had been told police were looking for illegal immigrants, drugs and weapons.

Police did not comment initially, but Govindsamy Mariemuthoo, a police director, said on Thursday "hundreds" of illegal immigrants had been arrested. He could not confirm the exact number. He said they would be deported.

Mariemuthoo also said two suspects had been arrested on charges of possessing stolen property, including a computer and radios, in what he called a "crime prevention raid".

Verryn, a veteran of the anti-apartheid struggle, said it was the first such incident in the four years since he opened the church's doors after seeing increasing number of Zimbabweans on the streets of Johannesburg.

Zimbabwe's economic and political woes have driven hundreds of thousands from their homeland, many for neighbouring countries.

South Africa is believed to have one of the largest communities of Zimbabweans, with estimates consistently refer to three million Zimbabweans living here.

'Better to go home'

Outside Verryn's church during the raid, hundreds of men, many barefooted and bare-chested, lined up in an orderly fashion before being marched into the police vans. A handful of men tried to run away but police corralled most of them.

Fredrick Chibungu, who has been in the country for seven months and was waiting for his asylum papers to be finalised, said he expected to be deported.

"This is a church. We thought we were safe," he said. "It is better to go back home and make a plan to come back."

Verryn said police assaulted some as they were taken away.

"When I said, 'You can't do this', they told me not to interfere. They pulled me down the stairs by the scruff of my neck and one police officer kicked something at me."

Police eventually allowed about 100 women whose documents had been found in order back inside the church, where they were looking after a number of children. As the raid concluded about 02:30 on Thursday, police also allowed several hundred men with proper documentation to return to the building.

They immediately began searching for their belongings while members of church began tidying up - blankets and bedding lay abandoned on floor where those seeking refuge sleep crowded next to one another.

- AP