SIHMA Press Review for June 2026

Africa

Nigerian Tribune

22 June 2026

Nigeria currently hosts over 100,000 refugees, asylum seekers

Nigeria's Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, reaffirmed the Tinubu administration's commitment to protecting and empowering refugees, asylum seekers and internally displaced persons, saying the government is deliberately "shifting from palliatives to pathways" by linking humanitarian response to long-term development through livelihoods, agribusiness, education and social protection, built on three pillars protection, livelihoods and durable solutions, which are implemented via the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI). He stressed that displaced persons should be seen as having potential rather than being viewed solely as victims, and noted plans to expand the National Social Register for more targeted assistance, while Humanitarian Affairs Minister Bernard Doro praised refugees' resilience and urged stronger collective action, and NCFRMI chief Aliyu Tijani Ahmed called for practical steps ensuring access to education, healthcare, shelter, legal identity and social participation.

BBC

15 June 2026

MSF staff abused Sudanese refugees in sex-for-food scandal

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) admitted that staff and external contractors were subject to 59 misconduct allegations including sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse, sometimes involving young girls offered food or jobs in exchange for sex, affecting Sudanese refugees in eastern Chad dating back to 2024, though an internal investigation could not verify all claims and identified patterns potentially amounting to "sexual trafficking." MSF has fired 18 individuals but could not identify some other alleged perpetrators, and acknowledged that victims often stayed silent for fear of losing aid access while those who did report abuse frequently received no response through largely ineffective complaint procedures, failures the charity called "a serious breach of MSF's values" amid Sudan's broader civil war, now the world's worst humanitarian crisis, which has displaced over 11 million people, left 28 million facing acute hunger, killed an estimated 150,000–400,000, and seen mass sexual violence documented as a weapon of war.

 Aljazeera

4 Jun 2026

Hundreds protest in Libya outside UN agency against undocumented migrants

Hundreds of Libyans protested outside UNHCR's Tripoli headquarters, chanting "Libya belongs to Libyans" and demanding the agency's closure over accusations it was seeking to resettle undocumented migrants in the country claims the UN mission UNSMIL firmly denied, stating it runs no such resettlement programs and instead works to relocate refugees to third countries or facilitate voluntary returns home, while warning that "misleading information and hate speech" about its work was fueling tensions and incitement against UN staff. The demonstration, the largest in a recent series of anti-migrant protests, reflects growing scapegoating of migrants for Libya's social and economic problems after 15 years of conflict and political division, in a country of roughly 7 million people that hosts an estimated 900,000 migrants, many of them Sudanese refugees fleeing civil war, according to IOM figures.

 South Africa

Aljazeera

29 Jun 2026

‘If I am to die, let it be here’: Malawians fleeing unrest in South Africa

Thousands of Malawians are fleeing South Africa amid anti-foreigner violence tied to a viral but unofficial "June 30 deadline" spread by groups like Operation Dudula, despite government assurances it's not a real ultimatum and warnings that vigilantism will be prosecuted with over 6,936 already repatriated and South African authorities processing 15,162 for deportation, while Malawi's disaster agency estimates roughly 10,000 citizens are in distress and has activated a response plan for their "safe, orderly and dignified" return. Returnees like Janet Kapito, Thokozani Mphola and Idrissah Akilemu described losing everything; homes burned, savings gone, dreams of building houses back home abandoned after fleeing violent attacks, including night raids, and now face the added struggle of reintegrating into Malawi's high-unemployment economy with little more than the clothes they carried back.

HIAS

29 June 2026

Aiding Refugees in South Africa During Xenophobic Violence

Renewed xenophobic violence in South Africa, driven largely by Operation Dudula and March and March in KwaZulu-Natal, has left even documented refugees, naturalized citizens and asylum seekers not just undocumented migrants; terrified, attacked, and unable to work, with community leaders like Gaby and Eric describing lost jobs, street assaults, and dependence on emergency aid after being falsely branded "illegal immigrants" ahead of the groups' unofficial June 30 deadline. In response, HIAS South Africa partnered with the KwaZulu-Natal Jewish Board of Deputies to deliver food parcels to trapped refugee families, with HIAS Country Director Alana Pugh-Jones Baranov warning that this wave differs from South Africa's past deadly xenophobic outbreaks (which killed 62 people in 2008, 7 in 2015, and 12 in 2019) due to its systematic, social-media-driven coordination targeting all foreign nationals regardless of legal status prompting countries like Malawi, Ghana and Nigeria to repatriate their citizens, while HIAS, motivated by Jewish values of justice and protecting the stranger, has pledged continued support and warned that failing to confront the violence risks igniting South Africa's already-fragile social cohesion.

BBC

17 June 2026

'They came with machetes' - deadline looms for migrants to leave South Africa

As South Africa's unofficial June 30 "leave" deadline set by anti-migrant protesters approaches, thousands of foreigners mostly Malawians have fled attacks and door-to-door intimidation to gather in an open field near Durban, with victims like Esnat Joseph describing armed men attacking her husband and threatening her family, while documented refugees and legal residents report being targeted too, unable to distinguish themselves from the "illegal immigrants" the protests, led by groups like March and March and backed by ActionSA, are demanding leave. President Cyril Ramaphosa has condemned the "scapegoating of vulnerable people" and unveiled a five-point plan including barring asylum claims from those who passed through "safe" countries, naturalization quotas, expanded digital IDs, and jail terms for employers exploiting undocumented workers even as roughly 3,500 foreigners have already volunteered for repatriation via Malawi, Ghana, Mozambique, Nigeria and Zimbabwe, and authorities report 40,000 arrests this year under a demolition-and-enforcement campaign called Operation New Broom, all amid fears of a repeat of deadly xenophobic violence like 2008's riots (62 killed), fueled partly by disputed statistics and election-season rhetoric ahead of November's local polls.

 Southern Africa

GroundUp

29 June 2026

“Better to be safe than sorry” – 1,800 Zimbabweans seek repatriation

About 1,800 displaced Zimbabweans, having fled violence-related fears in rural towns like Robertson, are being processed for repatriation at Cape Town's Home Affairs Refugee Reception Centre in Epping after spending a rain-soaked night sleeping rough near the Zimbabwean Consulate, with women and children sheltering inside the center while men remained outside amid police and emergency medical monitoring. Aid groups including Gift of the Givers and the Methodist Church of Southern Africa have stepped in to provide hot meals, blankets, tents and hygiene supplies, with coordinator Ali Sablay describing thousands found sleeping in the cold rain, while Home Affairs has added extra staff to speed processing before transporting people to a repatriation site in Musina, and affected individuals like Spray Vumdi and Ndinzwei Marimba expressed fear for their safety and hope for African unity rather than continued conflict between nations.

Water Mission

12 June 2026

After fleeing violence and sexual assault in DR Congo while nine months pregnant, giving birth to her son during the three-day journey. Katembo found relief at Tanzania's Nyarugusu Refugee Camp, where an established Water Mission solar-powered water system meant she no longer had to collect water from rivers as she did back home, instead accessing safe tap water within minutes. Water Mission, which has operated in Nyarugusu since 2015 when over 100,000 Burundian refugees first arrived, expanded its infrastructure adding storage tanks, soak pads and underground piping to accommodate a 2025 influx of over 87,000 Congolese refugees, now providing safe water to the camp's nearly 108,000 residents, a story the organization highlights on World Refugee Day amid UNHCR estimates of 42.5 million refugees worldwide, 40% of them children.

 UNHCR

4 June 2026

UNHCR: Refugees in Eastern and Southern Africa remain in exile for nearly 16 years

UNHCR analysis found that refugees in Eastern and Southern Africa remain displaced for a median of nearly 16 years, with 6.4 million refugees and asylum-seekers mainly fleeing conflict in Sudan, South Sudan and Somalia and hosted by countries like Uganda, Ethiopia and Kenya showing that three in four remain displaced after five years and nearly two in five after two decades. The data reveals particularly severe impacts on children (those registered before age five stay in exile a median of over 18 years), larger families (nearly 19 years for households of five or more versus under six for singles), and women and girls (17 years versus 14 for men), prompting UNHCR Regional Director Mamadou Dian Balde to call for accelerated solutions including safe returns and expanded access to education, work and self-sufficiency while urging donors and host nations to boost support to prevent multi-generational dependency on aid.

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