[Anchor]

The wave of anti-immigrant protests, which has primarily been concentrated in Europe, has now spread to South Africa. As economic conditions worsen and job opportunities dwindle, immigrants are becoming the targets of hatred and violence.

Reporter Yu Deok-gi has the story.

[Reporter]

Protesters armed with traditional fighting sticks have taken over downtown Johannesburg, South Africa.

Demanding the expulsion of immigrants, whom they accuse of stealing jobs and fueling drug-related crimes, thousands of people participated in demonstrations across 120 locations throughout the country.

[Lwazi Kwati / South African Anti-Immigrant Protester: We must drive out the drug dealers (among the immigrants). Immigrants must vacate the shops they are operating illegally.]

With looting and violence against immigrants breaking out in various places, more than 900 people have been arrested.

Fearing for their safety, approximately 25,000 immigrants from other African nations have already fled South Africa.

Earlier last month in Belfast, United Kingdom, a Sudanese man allegedly attacked a white man in his 40s with a weapon, leading to a series of arson attacks and violence where masked individuals set fire to the homes and businesses of immigrants.

In Italy, anti-immigrant protesters have even called for the forced expulsion of people of color through remigration, a term reminiscent of Nazi ethnic cleansing. This has sparked serious social conflict, with tens of thousands of people holding counter-protests.

[Veronica Marotta / Italian Pro-Immigrant Protester: It is absurd that Italy, a country that has historically seen many people leave to seek a better life abroad, is now excluding those who have fled here to escape difficult situations.]

Analysts suggest that the growing frustration over deepening inequality and economic hardship, which is becoming widespread across the globe, is being vented as hatred toward immigrants.

[Kim Sung-soo / Professor of Political Science and Diplomacy at Hanyang University: When economic needs are not met, it is very easy for a structure to form where people believe their jobs are being taken away, leading to resentment (toward immigrants) over reduced welfare benefits.]

Experts also diagnose that the fear of job losses due to the AI industrial revolution, combined with the indiscriminate spread of incitement and misinformation through social media, is further radicalizing this hatred and violence.

Reported by Yu Deok-gi | Video by Chae Chul-ho | Graphics by Lim Chan-hyuk