Anti-foreigner violence sweeps through South Africa
Around 6,000 people have fled South Africa
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Monday, 19, May 2008 01:33
Around 6,000 people have fled South Africa as violent attacks aimed at foreigners continue to sweep the country.
Local police have said that at least 22 people have been killed in violence that broke out over the weekend.
Mobs have attacked foreigners and set homes on fire with many of the victims seeking refuge in police stations.
In South Africa's poorest rural areas immigrants are blamed for taking jobs and increasing violent crime in the country.
South Africa's president Thano Mbeki and ruling ANC party leader Jacob Zuma have both called for an end to the national violence.
Many of those seeking refuge in police stations are believed to be Zimbabweans, of which there are three million in South Africa.
Eric Goemaere a spokesman for the aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) told the BBC: "This reminds me of a refugee situation. I have treated bullet wounds, beaten people, rape victims, and the people are terrified."
Violence first began on May 11th when a mob attacked a group of immigrants in the town of Alexandra outside Johannesburg, killing two people and injuring 40 others.
On Thursday police fired rubber bullets into crowds in Diepsloot when protestors looted shops and set up barricades.
Over the weekend the violence spread through other areas of the country, including central Johannesburg, with a number of people being killed and reports of at least one immigrant being burnt to death.