Consultancy Africa Intelligence's Refugees & Migration unit is focused on highlighting the plight of Africa's refugee communities as well as the impact of illegal migration on Africa's fragile states. Providing a free monthly situational report, the unit draws from a wide range of practical and policy expertise. Please watch this space for further developments in coming weeks as we continue to update and expand the units offerings. For more information about the unit and submission of articles, please contact gerrie.swart@consultancyafrica.com.

Consultancy Africa Intelligence’s Refugee & Illegal Immigration Focus is aimed at highlighting key issues surrounding the refugee crisis across the African continent. Particularly, it looks at the growing predicament being faced by Africa’s refugee populations in host countries, as well as the increasing socio-economic and security threat posed on neighboring countries due to the influx of illegal immigrants.

This briefing series is aimed at promoting awareness and dialogue around particular crisis areas and policy responses that are being undertaken to address the issue.

Access to this briefing is free, and to strengthen discussion around this area, we encourage the contribution of briefing papers from individual and institutional sources. If you would like to publish a paper in the Refugee & Illegal Immigration Focus, please email our Conflict & Terrorism unit head at gerrie.swart@consultancyafrica.com.

In addition to affecting post-conflict reconstruction in the country, fighting in the unpredictable and volatile eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is threatening the stability of the Great Lakes region. The resultant insecurity in the country has resulted in large numbers of Congolese refugees and asylum seekers crossing into neighbouring countries such as Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda. However, renewed fighting in the area has led to increased tensions between the DRC and its neighbours, with a renewed surge in Congolese asylum seekers flocking to Burundi to escape the conflict that broke out in the eastern DRC in mid-July.

This latest issue has severely escalated the DRC’s internal war further into an external one, with clashes have between supporters of rebel leader Laurent Nkunda and the Congolese National Armed Forces, and further pressures between the DRC and Rwanda, Uganda, and Burundi.

Tensions have been exacerbated with the Rwandan Government after being accused by the DRC of supporting Nkunda’s operations, due Nkunda’s protection of ethnic Tutsis in the region from attacks by ethnic Hutu militias. In addition, a diplomatic war between the DRC and Uganda has broken out over Lake Albert border disputes and the presence of the Ugandan Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels in the eastern DRC - all of which have now been worsened by asylum seekers entering the various countries.

The crisis in Darfur has been described as one of the gravest humanitarian tragedies in history. Despite the crucial breakthrough in securing approval for the deployment of nearly 26, 000 peacekeeping troops to the region this is unlikely to improve the fate of Darfur’s burgeoning refugee population who may find themselves in the crossfire - and increasingly facing an uncertain fate as to where they can seek refuge from further attacks.

Three years of fighting in Darfur have destroyed hundreds of villages, displaced 2.2 million and led to more than 400,000 deaths. These statistics present but a mere fraction of the true nature of the disaster and human suffering that has been inflicted upon the people of Darfur.

The fate of Darfur’s fleeing and increasingly growing refugee population has yet again come in the spotlight following an announcement by the Israeli Government that it would no longer allow entry of Darfur’s refugees.

A potentially devastating refugee crisis is emerging on the border between South Africa and Zimbabwe. Britain’s Sky News has broadcasted a disturbing exposé revealing that South African vigilantes have launched their own campaign to stop thousands of impoverished Zimbabweans crossing the border illegally into South Africa.

According to the report, the South African Government’s apparent failure to exercise and enforce strict border control has prompted a group of white farmers to patrol the borders. The men, who are using vehicles designed for game hunting to track down illegal immigrants from Zimbabwe, are being described as “the self declared enforcers of South Africa's immigration laws.”

This includes the tracking, cornering and ‘arrest’ of illegal immigrants, who are detained in make-shift plastic hand-cuffs by the farmers. The South African Police Service, accused by the farmers of doing little to stem the flood of illegal Zimbabweans, seem to have little choice but to co-operate with the operation. They collect the captives and take them to holding centres ready for deportation.