Overview
- Large numbers of migrants, especially Malawi nationals, have fled or gathered in sites such as Sherwood Park in Durban after months of anti-immigrant demonstrations and online hate led to localized violence.
- Police operations at the Sherwood Park site included the use of tear gas and rubber bullets on Wednesday as authorities tried to register and transfer people for repatriation.
- Authorities and embassies have organized returns with some 1,340 vulnerable people already transported to Malawi and local reports estimating the Durban camp may hold up to 10,000 people.
- Several African governments including Ghana, Nigeria, Mozambique and Malawi have begun evacuating citizens by bus and plane in response to attacks such as early June’s Mossel Bay incidents that left at least two dead.
- President Cyril Ramaphosa has warned against scapegoating migrants and said illegal immigration is a challenge that must be addressed alongside deep domestic problems like youth unemployment around 42 percent and strained public services, warning the crisis could destabilize communities and regional relations.