Nov 18, 2009

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - Up to 2,700 Zimbabwean asylum seekers have set up a temporary "safety camp" at a rural South African town following xenophobic attacks on their shacks, a human rights group said on Wednesday.

South African police fired rubber bullets on Tuesday to disperse a mob who attacked shacks belonging to hundreds of migrants following several days of simmering tension over jobs.

The attacks in De Doorns, a town 150 km (90 miles) from Cape Town, was reminiscent of 2008 xenophobic riots in which at least 42 people died and tens of thousands were displaced across South Africa.

"At the moment between 1,300 and 2,700 people, mostly Zimbabwean asylum seekers, have set up an internally displaced persons camp site or safety site, at De Doorns sports ground," Braam Hanekom, co-ordinator of People Against Suffering Suppression Oppression and Poverty (PASSOP) told Reuters.

Hanekom said the asylum seekers were housed in two large tents. There was limited water, poor security and a few portable toilets, he added.

"Today all the displaced asylum seekers refused to go to work for fear of being attacked," Hanekom said.

The attacks flared over competition for seasonal jobs at farms in the area, with the community arguing that Zimbabweans were "stealing jobs" by agreeing to work longer hours for less pay than locals were prepared to do.

De Doorns police station commander, Superintendent Desmond van der Westhuizen, told Reuters the displaced migrants would probably be held in tents for the next week, as discussions about their future continued with authorities.

"The were no new incidents reported over the last 24 hours," he said, adding that "there were... in the last 24 hours," he said, adding he estimated some 3,000 were affected by Tuesday's attacks.