The East African bloc, Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), on Saturday condemned the spate of xenophobic attacks that has gripped parts of South Africa.
IGAD Executive Secretary, Mahboub Maalim, described the attacks that left at least six people dead on March 25, as “unfortunate and requiring urgent action”, according to a Xinhua report.
Maalim “noted with regret that citizens of IGAD member states are among those directly affected”.
He lauded the measures being undertaken by the government of South Africa to restore law and order in the affected areas and called for more decisive measures to stop the attacks and the murder of innocent foreigners in South Africa.
The xenophobic violence was first reported in March in the city of Durban and some of the towns, from where it spread to other parts of South Africa.
Immigrants’ shops were targeted in Durban, where two foreigners and three South Africans were killed.Thousands of foreigners have been forced to stay in makeshift camps under police protection after their homes and business establishments were attacked, reportedly by jobless South Africans who blame foreigners for taking their jobs. The unemployment rate in the country is 24 percent, according to an earlier BBC report.