Southern Africa

  

243	Number of personnel (international and national)
14	Number of offices
USD 44.8 Mio	Overall funding requirements (ExCom-approved 2016 budget)

 

Operational Environment and Strategy​

The Southern Africa subregion currently has 727,392 people of concern, mainly refugees and asylum-seekers, with the majority in South Africa.

The region continues to enjoy relative peace and stability even though some electoral processes in the region have been characterized by sporadic violence and political tensions.

Most States in the subregion have growing economies and are seen to be middle-income countries. As a result, humanitarian and development assistance from donors is decreasing, yet these countries are still grappling with poverty, seasonal floods and drought, accompanying food shortages and inadequate service delivery. Given its relative wealth when compared with other parts of the continent, the subregion continues to attract significant numbers of migrants in search of a better life. Refugees and asylum-seekers are also part of these movements. Issues of mixed migratory flows, restrictive asylum trends, “asylum fatigue” and rising xenophobic tendencies remain huge challenges to the delivery of effective protection in the subregion.

While nearly all countries are party to the 1951 Convention, its 1967 Protocol, and the 1969 OAU Convention, most still have reservations regarding freedom of movement and access to employment. Nearly all countries in the subregion, with the exception of Angola and South Africa, have encampment policies that restrict freedom of movement and limit possibilities for self-reliance. The majority of populations in the camps have lived there for decades.

UNHCR’s strategy in 2016 will include efforts to maintain asylum space within the subregion through promoting accessions to and ratifications of the international and regional refugee, statelessness and IDP instruments. The Office will also support the development of national legal frameworks that adhere to international protection standards, including the lifting of reservations to international and regional instruments in order to improve protection space and quality of life for refugees.

With the support of the relevant stakeholders, UNHCR will work on comprehensive approaches to address mixed movements, alternatives to detention, xenophobia, and durable solutions for people of concern.  

UNHCR will endeavour to improve standards of assistance in the region by increasing community participation and empowerment of refugees, self-reliance and livelihoods, gender equality, introducing cash-based voucher systems where feasible, as well as targeted assistance programmes.   

The Office will pursue durable solutions, including voluntary repatriation where possible, local integration and resettlement.

Efforts will be made to strengthen cooperation and engage with governments at the regional and national levels to promote the implementation of the global action plan to end statelessness by 2024.

Response and Implementation

The population of concern in Angola, according to government figures, stood at 45,158 at the end of 2014. They originate mainly from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Eritrea, Côte d’Ivoire, Sierra Leone, Somalia and Sudan. On 30 September 2015, the assisted voluntary repatriation operation for the return of former Angolan refugees from the DRC will end. New asylum legislation was passed in Angola in 2015. UNHCR will work closely with the Government in monitoring the implementation of the law and the new refugee status determination body, and will provide technical support and training to ensure adherence to international obligations. Under the new law, the Government plans to introduce closed reception centres for asylum-seekers, will limit opportunities to work or freely move around the country unless they are able to demonstrate they can support themselves. The Office will further encourage the Angolan authorities to locally integrate refugees from the Katanga Province of the DRC, who have been in Angola for almost 40 years.
 
UNHCR will advocate for ensuring a better screening of the growing mixed movements arriving via land and sea, in order to preserve the protection space for asylum-seekers. The Office will also continue its interventions to: ensure that children born to refugees have access to birth registration and hence reduce the risk of statelessness; encourage civil society and academic institutions to assume a greater role in the area of human rights and refugee rights, as well as to share public information on UNHCR’s mandate;  monitor detention conditions and further sensitize authorities to prevent arbitrary arrests;  advocate for durable solutions for the Liberian, Rwandan and Sierra Leonean refugees as part of the process leading to the application of the cessation clauses; use resettlement as a protection tool for extremely vulnerable refugees.
 
Botswana hosts 2,163 refugees and 671 asylum-seekers, mainly originating from Zimbabwe and Namibia, with others from the Great Lakes and Horn of Africa regions, nearly all of whom reside in Dukwi refugee camp, owing to the strict encampment policy. It is hoped that efforts begun in 2015 to promote voluntary repatriation will reduce the Namibian and Zimbabwean populations by 2016. UNHCR will continue to advocate for a legislative review process to improve the protection environment and meet international standards, allowing for freedom of movement and the right to work to be upheld. Monitoring of detention centres will take place to prevent arbitrary detention of asylum-seekers. The Government provides education and health services for all residents of the camp. UNHCR will continue to ensure that people of concern have access to food and domestic items, and will provide services aimed at promoting self-reliance, ensuring access to HIV prevention and response programmes, and the prevention of SGBV. Resettlement will be pursued for those refugees who have no prospects for repatriation. Owing to the challenging financial situation, UNHCR’s presence during the second half of the year is likely to be reduced to cater for limited interventions only.
 
The Indian Ocean Island States of Comoros, Mauritius and Seychelles currently do not have any significant numbers of refugees. UNHCR periodically monitors these countries and endeavours to find durable solutions quickly when any new arrivals of people of concern are reported.
 
Lesotho is hosting 45 refugees and asylum-seekers who are largely self-reliant. UNHCR continues to advocate for the Government of Lesotho to unconditionally grant citizenship to these refugees who have been in the country for five years or more, in accordance with existing national legislation.
 
A small number of refugees and asylum-seekers in Madagascar will receive assistance from UNHCR. The well-being of people of concern will be assessed through monitoring visits. UNHCR will strengthen its work with the Government, UN partners and civil society to promote accession to the 1961 Convention as well as the compliance with international standards of the country’s draft law on nationality, currently being reviewed by the Government. Measures to support the law reform process will continue throughout 2016. UNHCR is also supporting the establishment of legal aid services for stateless people and those with undetermined nationality.
 
Malawi currently hosts 23,372 refugees and asylum-seekers, who originate mainly from the Great Lakes Region and the Horn of Africa. They currently reside in Dzaleka refugee camp, located 30 kilometres outside of Lilongwe. The Office continues to receive approximately 400 new arrivals on a monthly basis, mostly from the DRC. The country also encounters mixed movements, with individuals from the Horn of Africa using Malawi as a transit point to reach South Africa. UNHCR will continue supporting the Government of Malawi’s refugee status determination process and will advocate for decisions to be made in a timely manner. UNHCR will advocate for the adoption of the new refugee policy, the passing of an amendment bill to the national refugee legislation, and for the lifting of the reservations made to the 1951 Convention. Peaceful coexistence with the host community will continue to be promoted. Basic needs of people of concern will continue to be addressed, including access to social services and clean water, while advocating for inclusion in national services.
 
Following the decision by the Government to move Dzaleka camp, UNHCR will continue to advocate for refugees to remain in Dzaleka pending durable solutions, while all new arrivals will be accommodated at the new site located some 600 kilometers away from Lilongwe. Building on recommendations from market assessments, the operation will scale up livelihood activities in the camp to improve self-reliance with the aim of reducing dependency. Communities will be engaged to prevent and combat SGBV. UNHCR will continue to promote voluntary repatriation when possible and pursue resettlement for refugees who meet the criteria. UNHCR will continue to lobby for Malawi’s accession to the statelessness conventions as well as to build the capacity of the Government to identify and provide an appropriate response to statelessness.
 
The total population of concern in Mozambique at the end of 2014 stood at 17,861 individuals, including 4,536 refugees and 13,322 asylum-seekers. Some 10,470 refugees and asylum-seekers reside in Marratane camp, in Nampula province. The majority originate from the Great Lakes and the Horn of Africa. The Government will be assisted in its efforts to reduce the backlog of asylum claims and will received continued support with its refugee status determination process. UNHCR supports the Government in providing basic social services in the camp and is working toward full integration of the services into the Government line ministries. Efforts will be made to support refugees with self-reliance programmes and the Office will collaborate with WFP on providing targeted food assistance for those most in need. UNHCR will advocate for the implementation of a regional mixed-migration, protection-sensitive, strategy and remains an active player in the mixed-migration, working group in Mozambique. The Office will continue to work towards durable solutions and, in particular, will bolster its efforts on case identification for resettlement referrals. It will also pursue local integration opportunities for Rwandan and Burundian refugees. Finally, UNHCR will continue its engagement in the One UN inter-agency framework, with specific focus on ensuring that refugees are included in joint programming by UN agencies supporting the national development agenda, as set out in the UNDAF 2017-2020.
 
The refugee population in Namibia has fallen to some 2,600 people of concern as UNHCR continues to prioritize durable solutions, especially local integration for former Angolan refugees and resettlement of other nationalities. Following the closure of the office in the country in 2015, UNHCR will be supporting the country’s full integration of refugee protection into Government structures from its regional office in Pretoria. Continuous advocacy efforts will be required to find alternatives to relief assistance; to economically empower those refugees who are eligible for local integration; and to minimize the overall burden on the Government. The Office may continue to deliver humanitarian assistance to respond to refugee needs related to shelter, water, food and community services, while the Government prepares to fully integrate these services into its national structures.
 
UNHCR covers Swaziland from its regional office in Pretoria. At the end of 2014, the refugee population amounted to nearly 800 individuals. Approximately half of the refugees are locally integrated and live in urban areas. They originate from Burundi, the DRC, Rwanda, Somalia and Zimbabwe. Education, health and other services are provided to the refugees who remain in Malindza reception centre by the Government of Swaziland, with complementary UNHCR support through its implementing partner, CARITAS, as well as through technical support and advice. UNHCR will continue to advocate for parliament to enact the new refugee bill, which will bring Swaziland into line with international conventions and standards of refugee protection. UNHCR will then support the Government of Swaziland with implementation of the legislation.
 
In Zambia, there are over 51,000 people of concern to UNHCR, mostly from Angola, Burundi, the DRC, Rwanda and Somalia. Some 18,000 Angolans and some 4,000 Rwandans lost their refugee status following the invocation of the cessation clauses between 2012 and 2013, but they will remain people of concern until they are legally integrated in Zambia or return home. Most people of concern reside in Meheba and Mayukwayuka settlements; others reside in urban areas. UNHCR has successfully lobbied the Government to allow former Angolan and Rwandan refugees to locally integrate. The Local Integration Strategic Framework for the local integration of former refugees in Zambia was launched in 2014 with a three year programme ending in 2016. UNHCR is focusing most of its resources on this programme to ensure the legal and socio-economic integration of former refugees. In 2015, only a few hundred Angolans and no Rwandans have opted for voluntary repatriation. It is expected that local integration will be the solution for the vast majority of the remaining former refugees.
 
While the Office will continue to lobby the Government to lift its reservations to the 1951 Convention, the recently-approved Refugee Bill will maintain them; however, this still represents a step forward when compared to the current Refugee Control Act. UNHCR will also continue to work with the Government towards the implementation of its pledge to accede to the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. Zambia will be the only pilot country in Africa for the implementation of the new detention guidelines, in particular the component on alternatives to detention. Within an inter-agency action group, detention monitoring will be intensified, as well as the implementation of a jointly agreed action plan. The Office will work to ensure that social services continue to be provided by the Government in the settlements. Further efforts will be made towards the gradual hand-over of responsibilities so far assumed by UNHCR to the Government, and also to the refugee community. The majority of people of concern are self-sufficient, with the most vulnerable and new arrivals receiving cash assistance. This programme is mirroring the one implemented by the Government countrywide to assist vulnerable Zambians. The Office will advocate for the Government to take on board vulnerable former refugees who have accessed residence permits.  Resettlement will continue to be used as protection tool for some 1,000 individuals. Provided sufficient funds are available to cover its commitments under the Local Integration Strategic Framework, UNHCR plans to gradually start disengaging from activities in the socio-economic sector at the end of 2016. In this respect, UNHCR has started engaging with development actors including UN Agencies, JICA and the World Bank to ensure a smooth transition from humanitarian to more development-oriented interventions.
 
Zimbabwe hosts 9,170 people of concern (mainly from the Great Lakes region), with 86 per cent living in Tongogara refugee camp, and the remainder in urban areas. On average, 100 new asylum-seekers arrive each month. The Office will focus on strengthening the asylum system alongside a gradual reduction of UNHCR’s involvement in refugee status determination and civil status documentation by enhancing government capacity. The Office will develop well-targeted livelihood and self-reliance activities that should develop refugees’ skills to enable them to cater better for their own needs. This strategy, along with continued investment in education and improved shelter, site planning and management, will lay a good foundation for the evolution from a camp to a local settlement of refugees.

UNHCR will pursue comprehensive solutions for ‘minority’ population groups through resettlement, voluntary repatriation, enhanced livelihoods and alternative stay arrangements where appropriate. The Office will work closely with the Government and other partners to align relevant laws with the constitution and international standards to enhance the prevention of statelessness. Following the identification of the populations at risk of statelessness in 2015, the Office will focus on reduction and prevention activities.