IOM aids Malawians home return from SA xenophobia

Over three days last week, South Africa-based staff from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), in collaboration with Malawi and South Africa, assisted 57 Malawian nationals with voluntary return to their homes, following an outbreak of violence in the Durban area of KwaZulu-Natal.

Support for these vulnerable migrants was provided under a project funded by the European Union (EU) called Pilot Action on Voluntary Return and Sustainable Community-Based Reintegration. 

According to press reports and several human rights NGOs, migrants of other nationalities - notably Congolese, Burundians and Tanzanians - also were targeted by xenophobic mobs, suffering injury, theft and damage to their property.

The Durban violence led to the displacement of about 300 Malawian nationals. Of those, 105 Malawians expressed willingness to voluntarily return to Malawi. Later, after noting the violence had receded, about half of those decided to return to their homes in Durban. 

“This support extends our global commitment to provide humanitarian assistance to migrants in need, including refugees and internally displaced people. The situation in Durban exposed migrants to violence, and we, as the UN Migration Agency, took the initiative to provide an option for those who no longer felt safe, and thus wished to voluntarily return back to Malawi,” said Lily Sanya, IOM Chief of Mission in South Africa. 

While still in South Africa, returning migrants were provided with counselling to help them make informed decisions about their return, and also assistance in securing travel documents in collaboration with their respective consulates and embassies in South Africa. IOM also assisted in the booking and payment of air tickets and offered transit assistance within South Africa to returnees living outside Johannesburg.

IOM assisted the returnees in batches, with the first group of 19 migrants (18 males, one female) leaving just over a week ago (8 April), the second group of 22 male and one female, 22 males departing two days later and a final group of 15 males leaving Friday, 12 April.

All three groups were received by senior government officials and IOM in Malawi.