Over 38,000 Malawians leave South Africa fleeing anti-immigrant protests.
Escalating violence is forcing thousands of migrants to return to their home countries.
Written by: Mohamed Ragab
The Malawian government announced the return of more than 38,000 of its citizens from South Africa in one month, following escalating anti-immigrant protests and violence, in one of the largest mass returns the region has seen in recent years.
Authorities confirmed that six people died during the return journey, amid the difficult humanitarian conditions that accompanied the evacuations.
Security concerns behind the wave of displacement
The mass return came after a wave of protests in several South African cities, where anti-immigration groups demanded the deportation of undocumented migrants, and some areas witnessed attacks and threats that prompted thousands of foreigners to leave their residences for fear of their safety.
The Malawian government confirmed that it coordinated the transfer of returning citizens and provided them with humanitarian assistance and reintegration measures, at a time when many of them face an uncertain future after losing their jobs and sources of income in South Africa.
Economic and humanitarian challenges
Thousands of Malawians depend on work in South Africa, particularly in the agriculture, construction and service sectors, and their remittances are an important source of income for their families in Malawi.
Experts warn that the continued return of migrants could worsen the economic situation in Malawi, which already suffers from high unemployment rates and limited job opportunities, in addition to the possibility that the South African economy will be affected by labor shortages in some sectors that rely on foreign workers.
Calls to contain the crisis
Human rights organizations and African governments have called on South African authorities to provide protection for all residents and to prevent acts of violence and hatred against migrants, stressing that addressing unemployment and crime problems should be done through economic and security policies, not by targeting foreigners.
According to reports, continued tensions could negatively impact regional relations within the Southern African Development Community, especially with the increasing number of returnees to their countries and growing fears of a widening humanitarian crisis.
South Africa has been experiencing a wave of anti-immigrant protests for several months, fueled by high unemployment rates and slowing economic growth.
Despite the government's insistence that enforcing immigration laws is solely the state's responsibility, violence and threats have prompted thousands of migrants from Malawi, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and other African countries to leave the country, amid warnings of humanitarian and economic repercussions for the entire region.
