AP: Unrest amid pleas to end attacks on immigrants in S. Africa - "With unemployment and poverty levels high in South Africa, the immigrants are accused of taking jobs that should go to South Africans ... country currently houses more than 300,000 asylum seekers"

Unrest amid pleas to end attacks on immigrants in S. Africa

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — President Jacob Zuma on Thursday urged South Africans to stop attacking immigrants from Africa and South Asia, but hundreds threatened peace marchers in a city where days of violence have killed at least five people.

In the days before the peace march in Durban, more than 2,000 foreigners fled to camps erected on sports fields around the city, afraid to return home, according to Gift of the Givers, an aid organization.

Zuma, in a speech to parliament that was broadcast live on TV, called the attacks "shocking and unacceptable," adding that "no amount of frustration and anger can ever justify the attacks on foreign nationals."

With unemployment and poverty levels high in South Africa, the immigrants are accused of taking jobs that should go to South Africans. ... 

South Africa is a major destination for asylum seekers and refugees, and the country currently houses more than 300,000 asylum seekers, according to projections by the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, said UNHCR spokeswoman Tina Ghelli. ...

http://news.yahoo.com/foreigners-fear-safety-attacks-south-africa-085524077.html