Thousands of Malawians flee homes in South Africa amid xenophobic threats
Key takeaways
- Thousands of migrants shelter in a Durban park after being driven from their homes ahead of a June 30 expulsion ultimatum.
- For weeks, groups armed with sticks, whips and shields have marched through parts of the country demanding that foreigners with no papers leave by June 30.
- At the park, which transformed into a makeshift transit camp in Durban on Wednesday, many people said repatriation was their only safe option.
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
Thousands of migrants shelter in a Durban park after being driven from their homes ahead of a June 30 expulsion ultimatum.
xwhatsapp-strokecopylinkgoogle Add Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Malawi migrants to South Africa line up for supplies in an informal refugee camp in Sherwood, Durban, South Africa, on June 10, 2026 [Stringer/EPA]By Al Jazeera Staff and AFPPublished On 11 Jun 202611 Jun 2026More than 3,000 Malawians, including hundreds of children, are staying in an open field in South Africa’s port city of Durban, after fleeing what they described as escalating anti-immigrant threats and attacks.
For weeks, groups armed with sticks, whips and shields have marched through parts of the country demanding that foreigners with no papers leave by June 30.