Protest declaration has been issued by those responsible for preparing the Africa coordination
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- Category: Africa
- Created: Sunday, 15 December 2024 09:46
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We, the continental coordinator of mineworkers, hereby protest against the inhumane treatment, bordering on criminality, inflicted on immigrants by the South African Government. This is no less than the odious criminal acts against humanity that are taking place in STILFONTEIN, South Africa, and it is serious.
The said Government is refusing to come to the aid of the 4,500 immigrants living in abandoned gold mines at depths of up to 2,000 meters, in which these people from Zimbabwe or Lesotho, always undocumented, have settled with their families, working in dangerous conditions to survive with their dependents.
At present, the government is forbidding any kind of assistance in the form of water or food supplies to these citizens trapped underground. In a bid to put a stop to illegal mining, it is threatening to fill in the holes, even though it knows that there are people living there and is hunting down the workers with a task force of soldiers and police officers, creating a reign of terror. He has reached the point of pushing five hundred immigrants called Zama Zamas into the marshes, then burning the reeds.
Those who tried to flee were pelted with rubber bullets. There were many deaths and serious injuries, a very deplorable situation.
Several hundred of these immigrants came to the surface. They were immediately arrested. But thousands of them remain in the dark. They would rather die of hunger and thirst than throw themselves into the arms of the police, which means prison and deportation. Meanwhile, they are too weak to make their way up the difficult path to the surface using ropes and ladders.
We join our efforts and our cry of alarm to the relatives of the desperate diggers who are protesting on the spot with placards stigmatizing the policy of smoke and mirrors and calling for an end to the genocide.
We urge the South African Government to:
1. Immediately stop the mistreatment of immigrants by helping them with basic necessities.
2. Immediately rescue those who have remained underground and return their remains to their families for a decent burial.
3. That it administers health care and provides dignified accommodation for refugees
4. The decriminalization and release of arrested minors
5. The application of exemplary sanctions to those responsible within the South African Government and the police for this inhumane behavior
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