President Thabo Mbeki, ANC president Jacob Zuma, all the leaders of political parties in this country and religious leaders must now raise their strong voices against xenophobia.

President Thabo Mbeki, ANC president Jacob Zuma, all the leaders of political parties in this country and religious leaders must now raise their strong voices against xenophobia.

I believe that people of goodwill must not remain silent while innocent men, women and children are being hunted down like animals for taking refuge in South Africa.

I also believe it is grossly inhuman to persecute these people for escaping from the political and economic conditions that are beyond their control in their own countries.

Whether their status as refugees is political or economical is immaterial. Whether some of them are involved in criminal activities, as is alleged, is for the law to deal with.

Ben Skosana, IFP spokesman on international affairs, Cape Town