Immigrants less likely to commit crime, more likely to create jobs for South Africans, report finds

Immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than South Africans, the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) has found in a report.

The new report explored the claims fuelling anti-foreigner sentiment, which has seen immigrants blamed for a range of social and economic problems in South Africa and reinforces xenophobic sentiment.

The ISS report found that the immigrant population is much smaller than commonly believed and does not place a burden on government services such as healthcare and education.

In addition, the report found that instead of taking jobs from South Africans, as is widely believed, immigrants are more likely to create jobs.