Southern Africa
2015 year-end information on the Southern Africa subregion is presented below. A summary of this can also be downloaded in PDF format. This subregion covers the following countries:
| Angola | Botswana | Comoros | Lesotho | Madagascar | Malawi | Mauritius | Mozambique | Namibia | Seychelles | South Africa | Swaziland | Zambia | Zimbabwe|
Subregion: Southern Africa
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Latest update of camps and office locations 13 Jan 2016. By clicking on the icons on the map, additional information is displayed.
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Budgets and Expenditure in Subregion Southern Africa
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2015
{"categories":[2012,2013,2014,2015],"budget":[90.53469772,83.47195826,71.78563246,74.338103542],"expenditure":[45.01012451,40.81416391,42.47998622,40.00321486]}
{"categories":[2012,2013,2014,2015],"p1":[85.58304644,78.75916229,69.95513627,72.322737383],"p2":[2.96529718,2.88589154,1.13994119,1.481945159],"p3":[null,null,null,null],"p4":[1.9863541,1.82690443,0.690555,0.533421]}
{"categories":[2012,2013,2014,2015],"p1":[43.11009869,39.3400451,41.60175533,38.70577751],"p2":[0.59783381,0.80027509,0.53033177,0.8125094],"p3":[null,null,null,null],"p4":[1.30219201,0.67384372,0.34789912,0.48492795]}
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People of Concern - 2015
[["Refugees",189842],["Asylum-seekers",1159702],["Returned refugees",4698],["Stateless",300000],["Others of concern",28414]]Loading ...
Response in 2015
Countries in the Southern Africa subregion hosted some 179,900 refugees and 860,490 asylum-seekers in 2015. The majority of refugees originated from Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Somalia, and Zimbabwe. Reliable data on the number of stateless persons in the region are not yet available; however, initial estimates suggest that there could be 300,000 stateless people in Madagascar and several hundred thousand in Zimbabwe.UNHCR pursued its advocacy efforts to promote accession to relevant international conventions and to seek the lifting of reservations to the 1951 Refugee Convention in Angola, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Furthermore, the Office continued to monitor and provide technical support to legal reform processes in Angola, South Africa, Swaziland and Zambia.
Many countries in the region have strict encampment policies and established camps. UNHCR focused on ensuring that the basic needs of refugees residing in camps were met. The Office also provided legal and social assistance to the most vulnerable refugees residing in urban areas.
Resettlement continued to be a key component of durable solutions strategies in the subregion. The Office surpassed its resettlement planning target of 3,650, with the submission of 3,792 persons in 2015. Voluntary repatriation of refugees remained limited; some 4,630 Angolan refugees repatriated from the DRC and Zambia, and the Government of Angola concluded the assisted repatriation programme in September 2015. In Zambia, progress was made on local integration for former Angolan refugees.
A regional strategy to respond to the challenges of mixed migration was developed by the Regional Office in 2015.
Efforts were made in Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe to comply with the Minimum Criteria for Livelihoods Programming, as well as to introduce cash-based interventions in Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia.
UNHCR implemented awareness programmes in partnership with governments and other stakeholders to counter xenophobia. Steps towards the identification of statelessness were taken though qualitative analyses in Zambia and Zimbabwe. Advocacy for accession to the statelessness conventions and reform of domestic legislation resulted in increased sensitization in several countries including Angola and Madagascar.
Challenges and unmet needs
In urban environments, additional funding is required to create effective outreach mechanisms to facilitate access to assistance and national services. Significant resources are also needed to identify and implement strategic measures to address xenophobia and promote social cohesion in partnership with authorities, development agencies and host communities.Access to quality healthcare services is not fully available for people of concern (PoC) in Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe. In most countries in the subregion, PoC do not have access to mental health services. Due to lack of resources, appropriate community-based preventive HIV services have been limited in scope. Likewise, multi-sectoral responses to sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) are rarely available in the subregion.
Initiatives to strengthen refugee status determination (RSD) capacity in Malawi could not be implemented in 2015, and this will likely lead to increased backlogs in processing RSD requests.
Operations
Operations in Angola, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe are presented in separate pages.At the beginning of 2015, Lesotho hosted 45 persons of concern from the DRC, Rwanda and other countries, all of whom were self-reliant. During the year, three people departed for resettlement and another eight were locally integrated, reducing the number of persons of concern to 35.
UNHCR assisted 10 refugees and five asylum-seekers in Madagascar with material support and refugee status determination. UNHCR continued to support the reform of the Malagasy Nationality Code process and provided limited legal counselling, including access to documentation, for 46 stateless persons.
Namibia continued to host 1,659 refugees and 1,100 asylum-seekers residing in Osire refugee settlement. During the year, 531 refugees departed for resettlement and nearly 300 were submitted for resettlement. Throughout the year, the Office worked closely with ministries to secure the provision of social services to the Osire population. Health services were handed over to Ministry of Health in April 2015 and the Ministry of Education has been managing primary and secondary education in the camp since March 2015, offering schooling to 943 students. UNHCR ceased its presence in Namibia as of 31 December 2015, but continues to provide support from the Regional Office in South Africa and through its implementing partner, African Humanitarian Action, for provision of food, domestic items and shelter.
The number of refugees and asylum-seekers in Swaziland increased during the year to 974 people. Of these, 356 continue to reside in the Malindza reception centre while the others live in urban areas and are self-reliant. Refugees in Malindza were provided with food and access to Government social services. Law enforcement bodies were trained on refugee law and international standards. UNHCR also supported the Government of Swaziland with technical guidance on refugee status determination.
Operational Environment and Strategy
Southern Africa currently hosts more than half a million people of concern. At the end of 2013, they included approximately 136,000 refugees, 278,000 asylum-seekers and nearly 1,700 returnees.Elections held during 2014 in Madagascar, Malawi, and South Africa were peaceful. In Botswana, Namibia and Mozambique, elections are expected during the remaining months of 2014. In Mozambique, discord between the main political parties caused some population movement, but a peace agreement was signed in August 2014. Reports of civil unrest related to the economic crisis continue in Malawi, South Africa and Swaziland.
Governments in the region are concerned about national security, trafficking, human smuggling and abuse of the asylum system, resulting in stricter border controls. National asylum systems in these countries are severely stretched and identifying people in need of international protection is difficult. While nearly all subregional countries are party to the 1951 Refugee Convention, its 1967 Protocol, and the 1969 OAU Convention, most have signed with reservations regarding freedom of movement and employment access. Nearly all the countries, with the exception of Angola and South Africa, have encampment policies that restrict freedom of movement and limit possibilities for self-reliance.
People at risk of statelessness in the subregion remain a concern. Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe have signed the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons. The 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness has been signed only by Lesotho, Mozambique and Swaziland.
Response and Implementation
According to government data, more than 20,000 asylum-seekers and nearly 24,000 refugees reside in Angola. UNHCR will continue working with the authorities to strengthen national refugee legislation and reinforce the country’s refugee status determination (RSD) capacity. It will promote policies and standards for the admission of asylum-seekers, including those who arrive within broader migration flows.Legislative reform remains a priority for Botswana. The Government has established a working group to review the Refugees Control and Recognition Act of 1967. UNHCR will advocate the country lifting its reservations to the 1951 Refugee Convention and intensify efforts to persuade the authorities to find alternatives to detention. Voluntary repatriation for Namibians and Zimbabweans will be pursued.
The Indian Ocean island states of Comoros, Seychelles and Mauritius do not have significant refugee numbers. UNHCR periodically monitors these countries and tries to find durable solutions quickly when new arrivals are reported.
In Lesotho, there are 30 largely self-reliant refugees and asylum-seekers. UNHCR continues to advocate unconditional citizenship for those refugees who have been in the country for five years or more, in accordance with existing national legislation.
UNHCR will continue supporting the Government of Malawi’s RSD process and advocating both the lifting of reservations to the 1951 Refugee Convention and the introduction of a new refugee policy.
Mozambique hosts 4,462 refugees and 11,478 asylum-seekers, the majority of whom originate from Burundi, the DRC, Rwanda and Somalia. Of these, 8,475 live in Maratane camp, the country’s only refugee camp, where basic services and assistance are provided by line ministries, with substantial UNHCR funding.
As Mozambique is a route for mixed migration southwards, UNHCR is involved in reinforcing border-monitoring systems and referral mechanisms in a more protection-sensitive manner, with IOM and the Government.
In Namibia, UNHCR will focus on durable solutions, particularly the local integration of former Angolan refugees and the resettlement of those refugees who remain in the camp, including those from the DRC.
UNHCR also covers Swaziland from its Pretoria office. At the end of 2013, the refugee population had increased by 25 per cent to 1,045.
As of mid-2014, some 54,000 refugees and other people of concern were residing in Zambia, most in the two refugee settlements of Meheba and Mayukwayukwa. In 2015, efforts will focus on durable solutions.
Zimbabwe hosts more than 8,500 refugees, mainly from the Great Lakes and the Horn of Africa, 85 per cent of whom reside in Tongogara refugee camp. UNHCR’s overall protection strategy in Zimbabwe will focus on: strengthening asylum practices, particularly improving refugee status determination; improving documentation, including birth registration; finding durable solutions, particularly through resettlement; and reducing individual protection risks, with a focus on SGBV and child protection. WFP is expected to take over the provision of food assistance, while UNHCR works on improving targeted assistance.
2015 Budget and Expenditure in Southern Africa | USD
| Operation | Pillar 1 Refugee programme |
Pillar 2 Stateless programme |
Pillar 3 Reintegration projects |
Pillar 4 IDP projects |
Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Angola | Budget Expenditure | 5,453,056 3,085,400 | 0 0 | 0 0 | 0 0 | 5,453,056 3,085,400 |
| Botswana | Budget Expenditure | 4,351,907 2,547,788 | 0 0 | 0 0 | 0 0 | 4,351,907 2,547,788 |
| Malawi | Budget Expenditure | 5,712,834 3,260,690 | 0 0 | 0 0 | 533,421 484,928 | 6,246,255 3,745,618 |
| Mozambique | Budget Expenditure | 4,769,181 2,710,374 | 380,099 182,439 | 0 0 | 0 0 | 5,149,280 2,892,812 |
| Namibia | Budget Expenditure | 546,748 499,581 | 0 0 | 0 0 | 0 0 | 546,748 499,581 |
| South Africa Regional Office | Budget Expenditure | 26,298,812 12,911,702 | 971,936 507,630 | 0 0 | 0 0 | 27,270,748 13,419,332 |
| Zambia | Budget Expenditure | 19,513,408 8,985,532 | 0 0 | 0 0 | 0 0 | 19,513,408 8,985,532 |
| Zimbabwe | Budget Expenditure | 5,676,791 4,704,711 | 129,910 122,441 | 0 0 | 0 0 | 5,806,701 4,827,151 |
| Total | Budget Expenditure | 72,322,737 38,705,778 | 1,481,945 812,509 | 0 0 | 533,421 484,928 | 74,338,104 40,003,215 |
2015 Voluntary Contributions to Southern Africa | USD
| Earmarking / Donor | Pillar 1 Refugee programme |
Pillar 4 IDP projects |
All pillars |
Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Angola | ||||
| Private donors in Italy | 0 | 0 | 17 | 17 |
| Angola subtotal | 0 | 0 | 17 | 17 |
| Botswana | ||||
| Botswana | 0 | 0 | 16,600 | 16,600 |
| Botswana subtotal | 0 | 0 | 16,600 | 16,600 |
| Malawi | ||||
| Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) | 0 | 570,760 | 0 | 570,760 |
| Private donors in Japan | 132,250 | 0 | 0 | 132,250 |
| UNAIDS | 25,000 | 0 | 0 | 25,000 |
| Malawi subtotal | 157,250 | 570,760 | 0 | 728,010 |
| Mozambique | ||||
| Private donors in Japan | 72,565 | 0 | 0 | 72,565 |
| Mozambique subtotal | 72,565 | 0 | 0 | 72,565 |
| Namibia | ||||
| Namibia | 0 | 0 | 43,740 | 43,740 |
| Namibia subtotal | 0 | 0 | 43,740 | 43,740 |
| South Africa Regional Office | ||||
| South Africa | 0 | 0 | 120,729 | 120,729 |
| UNAIDS | 466,745 | 0 | 0 | 466,745 |
| South Africa Regional Office subtotal | 466,745 | 0 | 120,729 | 587,474 |
| Zambia | ||||
| Japan | 1,500,000 | 0 | 1,667,779 | 3,167,779 |
| Private donors in Japan | 429,685 | 0 | 0 | 429,685 |
| UNICEF | 69,543 | 0 | 0 | 69,543 |
| United States of America | 1,805,000 | 0 | 1,400,000 | 3,205,000 |
| Zambia subtotal | 3,804,229 | 0 | 3,067,779 | 6,872,007 |
| Zimbabwe | ||||
| Denmark | 100,000 | 0 | 0 | 100,000 |
| Private donors in Japan | 41,515 | 0 | 0 | 41,515 |
| Zimbabwe subtotal | 141,515 | 0 | 0 | 141,515 |
| Total | 4,642,304 | 570,760 | 3,248,864 | 8,461,928 |