Police in the South African city of Cape Town used water cannons Wednesday while dispersing and arresting hundreds of foreigners, including children, who have camped for weeks outside the U.N. refugee agency's office.
Some of the refugees and asylum-seekers told local media they are seeking to be relocated outside the country after a wave of deadly attacks on foreigners in South African cities earlier this year.
Police said earlier efforts by the U.N. refugee agency and others to resolve the situation amicably "yielded no positive result." Police said officers were executing an Oct. 18 court order after a landlord applied to evict the 300 or so people who had been camping in the downtown arcade in a protest.