February 13
Ethiopia: Donkeys Are Unsung Heroes in Ethiopia's Humanitarian Crisis - and They Could Do Even More With Better Support
Conflict and drought in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia has triggered a humanitarian crisis. The Ethiopian government says 16 million people across the country are facing… Read more »
February 02
Rwanda: Even Many Critics of the Rwanda Deportation Policy Are Missing the Point of Why It's Wrong
The UK government's proposals to send asylum seekers arriving to the UK onto Rwanda continue to spark intense opposition. Read more »
South Africa: South Africa Needs to Manage Migrants Better. That Requires Cleaning Up the Department of Home Affairs
Legal grievances against the South African Department of Home Affairs, including contempt of court cases, are depressingly common. Too frequently the minister has to apologise to a… Read more »
December 11, 2023
East Africa: 'You Reach a Point Where You Have Nothing. You Will Just Die' - in East African Refugee Camps, Food Scarcity Is a Mortal Concern
For refugees living in settlements across Africa, life got more difficult in 2023. Read more »
October 11, 2023
South Africa: Male Domestic Workers in South Africa - Study Sheds Light On the Experiences of Malawian and Zimbabwean Migrants
An estimated 800,000 people work as domestic workers in South Africa. Most are black women from marginalised backgrounds. It's therefore not surprising that the bulk of the… Read more »
June 27, 2023
Africa: Migrant Numbers Are Rising - Conflict, Climate and Harassment Force Millions to Leave Their Homes
The number of forcibly displaced people increased to 108 million in 2022 and is expected to reach 117 million by the end of 2023, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency… Read more »
May 30, 2023
Africa: Some Refugee Girls Are Forced Into Early Marriage for Safety - Here's Why
Rates of child marriage increase in communities displaced by conflict as well as communities affected by natural and environmental disasters. Read more »
May 14, 2023
East Africa: Most East African Refugees Are Hosted Close to Borders - It's a Deliberate War Strategy
There are close to 4 million people living in refugee camps across Africa. Of the more than 300 camps, nearly 70% are situated within 30km-50km of an international border. They… Read more »
April 18, 2023
Africa: Europe Outsourcing Asylum to African Countries Is a Terrible Idea - There Are Alternatives
For 40 years, western governments have entertained ideas of outsourcing asylum processing and refugee hosting to the global south. It is not a new idea. And neither are the… Read more »
April 13, 2023
Ethiopia: Ethiopia Was Feted for Expanding Education Rights for Refugees, Then Politics Got in the Way
Ethiopia is one of the largest refugee-hosting countries in the world. It hosts more than 800,000 refugees and asylum seekers. For decades, refugees were sheltered primarily in 26… Read more »
March 05, 2023
South Africa: LGBTIQ+ Migrants and Asylum Seekers - Major New Study Identifies a Diverse, Wide-Spread Community
Since 1998, South Africa has recognised persecution based on gender and sexuality as legitimate grounds for asylum. This makes it the only African country to formally extend… Read more »
January 17, 2023
Central Africa: 7 Million Internally Displaced People Live in Central Africa - They Need More Support
Central Africa is host to the largest community of internally displaced persons in Africa. The countries in this region include Cameroon, the Central African Republic (CAR), the… Read more »
November 15, 2022
Africa: Why It's Important to Understand the Unique Plight of Internally Displaced People in Africa
The African Union adopted an agreement more than 13 years ago to prevent the arbitrary displacement of people and to uphold the dignity of such victims. Read more »
August 25, 2022
South Africa: Women Refugees Fleeing Violence Seek Safety in South Africa - But They Don't Find It
When I ran away from home there was no safety, and when I came to South Africa there is no safety; it's also happening here. Read more »
August 11, 2022
Ethiopia: Nowhere to Run - the Plight of Eritrean Refugees in Ethiopia
Ethiopia has hosted large numbers of Eritrean refugees for years. Before the recent conflict, about 100,000 Eritrean refugees lived in camps in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region. Read more »
July 28, 2022
Africa: Western Countries Are Shipping Refugees to Poorer Nations in Exchange for Cash
The U.K. government was due to begin its first deportation flight to remove asylum-seekers to the East African country of Rwanda on June 14, 2022, exactly two months after signing… Read more »
July 20, 2022
Africa: Debunking the Myth of the 'Evil People Smuggler'
In 2022, the number of forcibly displaced people surpassed 100 million worldwide. Nearly 1.5 million refugees will need resettlement in 2022, but less than one per cent of refugees… Read more »
July 04, 2022
Africa: Do Humanitarian Agencies Help Refugees Become Independent? Evidence From History
When 5.3 million Ukrainians entered the EU between February and June 2022, alongside life-saving emergency assistance came similarly crucial support: the right to stay and work in… Read more »
June 01, 2022
Africa: Disparities in Global Empathy - Why Some Refugees Are More Welcome Than Others
The world is accustomed to the stereotypical face of the refugee. The well-worn tropes of the Black or Brown face from post-genocide Rwanda, war-torn Somalia, or gang-ridden… Read more »
May 16, 2022
Kenya: LGBTI Refugees Seeking Protection in Kenya Struggle to Survive in a Hostile Environment
Kenya is now the second biggest refugee hosting country in Africa. Of its over half a million refugees, over a thousand from neighbouring African states have sought asylum on the… Read more »
May 18, 2022
Africa: The Rights of Refugees in Africa Are Under Threat - What Can Be Done
In April 2022, 70 refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) were reportedly detained and then deported by the Zimbabwe government. Once back in the DRC, their government… Read more »
May 13, 2022
East Africa: UK Plans to Send Asylum Seekers to Africa Raise Red Flags
Like many others, I was surprised and upset to hear about the UK's new deal to offload its responsibility to tens of thousands of asylum seekers to Rwanda. The plan is for Rwanda… Read more »
May 08, 2022
Ethiopia: What People From War-Torn Tigray Told Us About the State of Their Lives Amid the War
The Russia-Ukraine crisis has captured the world's attention, and understandably so, but at the risk of eclipsing the visibility of massive humanitarian crises elsewhere. In… Read more »
April 27, 2022
South Africa: Covid Relief Measures Mostly Excluded Refugees - a Neglect of Duty
The early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa saw the government impose a lockdown in a bid to save lives. It introduced several interventions to cushion the impact of… Read more »