JOHANNESBURG , South Africa ( CNN ) -- Police armed with rubber bullets were patrolling neighborhoods in Johannesburg on Tuesday in an effort to quell a recent spree of violence aimed at foreigners that police say has killed 22 people and displaced an estimated 13,000 . A crowd armed with clubs , machetes and axes rioted on the outskirts of Johannesburg on Tuesday . Many of the victims are Zimbabweans who have fled repression and dire economic circumstances in their homeland . Evidence of the violence was seen in smoke rising from burned homes in one Johannesburg neighborhood . Locals angry about the rising number of foreigners arriving in South Africa had set homes ablaze . Firefighters said they had fought more than 100 such blazes since Thursday . Standing outside a row of charred homes , Diamond Minnaar said there is a solution for foreigners . `` Most of them just have to go back to their country and leave us in peace , '' Minnaar said . `` That is the only solution . Or they are just going to get killed . Look at how many shacks have burnt down . '' The attacks and looting have drawn condemnation from South African officials and other African leaders . iReport.com : Are you there ? Send photos , video . The violence began a week ago in Johannesburg 's Alexandra Township , police say , and has been concentrated in the city 's poorest areas . `` People are angry because they are unemployed , poverty-affected people struggling for basic needs every day , '' said Dean Christopher Barends , a local Lutheran minister . `` This will explode into something . '' One person victimized was Pascoal Sendela Gulane , a Mozambican man , who said gangs broke into his home and stole his belongings . He fled to a church with his family and is now living with his children in his car on the church 's property . For him and many others , churches and police stations have become safe havens . Watch footage of the attacks » . On Monday , South African President Thabo Mbeki called for an end to the violence . `` We dehumanize ourselves the moment we start thinking of another person as less human than we are simply because they come from another country '' he said in a statement . `` As South Africans , we must recognize and fully appreciate that we are bound together with other Africans by history , culture , economics and , above all , by destiny . I call upon those behind these shameful and criminal acts to stop ! Nothing can justify it . '' He has called for an investigation into the violence . Also Monday , the Nelson Mandela Foundation issued a statement condemning the `` senseless violence . '' South African police have arrested more than 200 people in connection with the violence for offenses including rape , murder , robbery and theft . Police director Govindsamy Mariemuthoo said that at least one foreigner was burned alive over the weekend , while others saw their houses torched , their shops looted and their possessions stolen . Tuesday there was a large police presence in the neighborhoods were the violence had occurred , according to a CNN producer on the scene . Despite the police presence , sporadic looting still took place in several townships east of Johannesburg . Mbuso Mthembu , provincial manager at the Red Cross office in Johannesburg , said that the number of people fleeing is continuing to grow and that violent attacks seem to be spreading into other areas . His organization has made an emergency appeal for people to donate 1 million rand ( about $ 135,000 ) to help support the estimated 13,000 who have fled their homes . Many had to flee quickly , leaving all their belongings behind , Mthembu said . `` We have delivered blankets , kids clothing , baby formula , '' he said . `` But we need more . ''
An estimated 13,000 people fled homes after violence targeting foreigners . The U.N. said it was investigating the reports of killings and other abuses in Rakhine state. Police arrest more than 200 people after at least 22 are killed . Zimbabweans who have fled their own country are driven from squatter camps .