Thousands flee South Africa as anti-immigrant mobs beat and rob residents

Thousands of people have fled their homes in South Africa after months of violent anti-immigration protests, with activists demanding that undocumented foreigners leave the country. In Thembelihle, an informal settlement south of Johannesburg, Malawian immigrants had lived peacefully alongside South Africans for years. The area is filled with breeze-block houses and metal shacks, and its dirt streets are often flooded with filthy water. But recent weeks have brought a wave of armed robberies that shattered that peace. On 29 June, several men broke into the home of Eibraheem Hussein, a 60-year-old Malawian who has lived in South Africa since 2000. They beat him and stole valuable items.