The refugees say they do not want to return to their homes in South Africa or to their countries of origin -- they want to be sent to a third country.

The situation was tense outside the offices of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Wednesday afternoon as police prepared to evict families who have been living there.

The refugees refuse to return to their country of origin and do not want to live in South Africa.

About a year ago, some 33 families returned to the UNHCR from Lindela Repatriation Centre, where the women were taken, and Kgosi Mampuru Correctional Centre, where the men were taken, after their protests in 2019.

An eviction order was granted by the Pretoria high court in August 2022 and will soon be implemented, according to UNHCR spokesperson Laura Padoan. Following the court order the date had been set for 19 April but the eviction has been postponed, she told GroundUp.

Padoan said she did not know the date but the eviction was "inevitable". The refugees have refused legal representation and the eviction order remains unopposed.

The application for the eviction order was brought by the City of Tshwane and some Pretoria homeowners against the refugees, the departments of Home Affairs, Police, and Social Development, and the UNHCR.

On Wednesday afternoon, police were trying to persuade the refugees to get into...