Africa has over six million refugees and is one of the regions with the most displaced people in the world, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
To commemoration World Refugee Day, the Department of Home Affairs together with the Pan African Parliament and the African Peer Review Mechanism will host a panel discussion at the Pan-African Parliament in Midrand, north of Johannesburg.
The discussion will focus on the positive contribution that refugees are able to make in their new societies if they receive initial support from various stakeholders.
UNHCR representative for Southern Africa, Markku Aikomus, says South Africa is doing well notwithstanding some of the attacks against foreign nationals.
“South Africa is generously hosting around 280 000 refugees and asylum seekers from a variety of countries – and South Africa in many ways has been an example in the region. Refugees and asylum seekers have free movement; they have access to the services and to the labour market and employment,” says Aikomus.
