WESTERN CAPE: Black Sash helped establish the Western Cape Emergency Civil Society Task Team, set-up a day after Xenophobic attacks broke out in the Western Cape. We are working with city, provincial and national authorities to prevent the spread of violence against foreign nationals, as well as provide humanitarian relief, legal support and assistance with the re-integration of people displaced by the crisis.   

KWAZULU-NATAL: Black Sash is actively involved in civil society initiatives and partnerships developed in response to the crisis, specifically providing support to Lawyers For Human Rights (LHR) and Mennonite Central Committee Refugee Project (MCC).  Our interns are assisting with the registration of non-nationals who have declared their intention of returning home. We are also working closely with other civil society stakeholders to assist in humanitarian relief efforts. We would like to commend SAPS, Metro Police, HRC, RED CROSS, DoSD and Department of Health for their great responses in this time of crisis. 

GAUTENG: Black Sash joined a civil society stakeholders meeting (convened by the Human Rights commission) on the evening that Xenophobic violence first broke out in Alexandra, Johannesburg. Besides devising immediate intervention strategies and pooling resources to provide a coordinated response to the crisis, we helped establish task teams to address specific needs. The Sash is currently part of the Legal Task Team which includes the Legal Resource Centre, Lawyers for Human Rights, CORMSA and the Commission for Gender and Equality. Key issues we are dealing with are a moratorium on deportation; collecting and collating statements from the victims and lodging cases against the perpetrators. We have also called on the Social Development MEC to extend Social Relief of Distress to the victims of Xenophobia violence as a matter of urgency and are currently exploring longer term intervention strategies around establishing Migrant Help Desks in certain municipalities.  

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