7 Bangladeshis hurt, their 4 shops torched
At least seven Bangladeshis were assaulted and their four shops were burnt by criminals at Johannesburg in South Africa on Saturday night.
“Some locals forcibly entered the shops in Thokoza last night [Saturday] and beat up the Bangladeshis there,” said a Bangladeshi, Sheikh Mizan, in a Facebook message sent to The Daily Star yesterday.
The expatriate alleged that more than 100 Bangladeshis were hurt and dozens of their shops were looted in similar attacks in Johannesburg and Durban last week.
The riots are believed to be fuelled by widely-held beliefs that the country's economic woes are being caused by foreign nationals, according to international media.
Daud Ali, deputy high commissioner at the Bangladesh mission in Pretoria, in an email said almost all the shops in the two South African cities were being kept closed.
However, he claimed that the number of Bangladeshi shops looted there last week would not be more than 15. It is estimated that some 70 to 75 Bangladeshis were affected in the areas, he said.
Several people, mostly from Pakistan, India and China, were killed in the last two or three days' violence in the country.
Daud claimed no Bangladeshi was hurt.
The Bangladesh high commission in Pretoria was in contact with the Bangladeshis in that country and advised them to keep their shops in Durban and Johannesburg closed for the time being, he added.
Around 60,000 to 70,000 Bangladeshi expatriates now live in South Africa.
On Saturday, South African President Jacob Zuma visited a refugee camp in Durban after a fresh outbreak of anti-foreigner violence, said BBC.
In a statement, Zuma said: "These attacks go against everything we believe in. The majority of South Africans love peace and good relations with their brothers and sisters in the continent."
At least six people were killed in attacks in Durban recently, added BBC.
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