A rapidly increasing number of foreigners, mostly African, are seeking asylum and refugee status in Cape Town due to the "high incidence of xenophobia" and crime in Johannesburg.

Thousands of Eritrean refugees in Sudan are in limbo as recent tensions between the two countries have put their repatriation on hold just months before their refugee status comes to an end.

Regional and internal conflicts often provide an atmosphere for human rights violations causing large groups to flee across borders or to leave their homes seeking safety elsewhere. Unaware of how or where to request assistance, their plight often becomes desperate. This volume provides a detailed and concrete analysis of how human rights complaints mechanisms can be accessed by refugees, asylum-seekers, and internally displaced persons.

On the western shore of the Red Sea, three drought stricken countries are locked in a food emergency that is threatening the lives of millions of people. Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Sudan have all been engaged in complex military conflicts that, together with the failure of the region's crops, have placed residents and refugees alike at risk of starvation.

Ethnic Burundi rebels have 30 days to agree to a ceasefire or face tough action. That is the word from Jacob Zuma, South African Deputy President and mediator to the talks, and the African leaders who had gathered in Tanzania. The ultimatum comes a day after the leaders failed to achieve an all-inclusive ceasefire to end the nine year-war in Burundi.

Pressure is mounting on the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to isolate Zimbabwe from the regional body or risk sanctions from the European Union (EU) and the US. According to SABC news monitored in Lusaka, EU senior officials have been meeting to come up with a strong position demanding that Zimbabwe should not be included in all regional initiatives or meetings.
Related Link: SADC leaders spurn Mugabe
http://www.suntimes.co.za/2002/10/06/news/news01.asp

The current instability in Cote d'Ivoire threatens to trigger massive population upheaval if fighting between rebels and government forces continues to spread. The political turmoil has already unleashed an anti-immigrant backlash that could affect millions of foreigners in Cote d'Ivoire, including 70,000 refugees, and that likely will linger after the current military standoff ends.

At least 1,600 people from Côte d’Ivoire have sought refuge in Mali since a 19 September coup attempt sparked off fighting between the Ivorian army and mutinous soldiers, the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Activities (OCHA) reported on Tuesday.

As a regional Heads of State meeting focusing on the armed conflict in Burundi began in Dar es Salaam, Amnesty International called on the Heads of State to condemn in the strongest terms the escalation of unlawful killings of civilians in Burundi and to demand that the Transitional Government of Burundi and armed political groups take immediate measures to improve the accountability of their armed forces.

As the peace process begins to take root in Angola, displaced communities have turned to indigenous forms of therapy as a way of dealing with the psychological scars left behind by nearly three decades of civil war.

The Sudanese government on Tuesday claimed to have seized the key southern town of Torit, five weeks after its capture by rebels prompted the government to suspend peace talks.

Fresh fighting in the Liberian town of Kolahun has driven some 3,000 people into Sierra Leone, exacerbating the refugee situation at the latter's border and prompting a multi-agency relief effort to ease the pressure there.

While the crackdown on press freedom has long been a part of Zimbabwe's political landscape, the parliament's passing of the Access to Information and Privacy Bill this past January dealt one of the largest blows to media freedom in the country. Geoffrey Nyarota, the editor of the Zimbabwe Daily News, has been arrested five times in the last three years for printing articles critical of the Zimbabwe government. During a recent chat with Digital Freedom Network, Mr. Nyarota discussed the stark perils facing his countrymen and what possibilities lie ahead for a democratic Zimbabwe.

The Chadian Ministry of Information reported last Friday that rebels had attacked an airport in the north, killing four soldiers and destroying two attack helicopters and a bomber.

Guinea-Bissau's opposition parties demanded last Friday the resignation of President Kumba Yala, saying he had interfered with the independent judiciary and encouraged tribalism to destabilize the country, news agencies reported.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) warned on Monday that thousands of people could die in Southern Africa from the explosive combination of disease, hunger and a lack of medical facilities unless money was raised quickly for urgent health care.

Somali refugees preparing to move to the United States are rushing to circumcise their daughters after learning the practice is illegal in their future home. An unusually large number of girls have been circumcised in recent weeks in the Kenyan refugee camps housing the nearly 12 000 Somalis from the Bantu ethnic group due to be resettled to the US early next year, humanitarian workers confirmed.

Eritrea has denied backing Sudanese rebel forces which launched an attack in eastern Sudan last week.

Uganda's rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) has attacked a Sudanese refugee camp, for the second time this year, killing five government soldiers and burning about 65 huts.

Willie Madisha, president of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), says government leaders may be linked to attempts to infiltrate the labour movement in a bid to fragment it. He was responding to a government statement on Wednesday branding Cosatu's two-day anti-privatisation strike a failure and saying there was a crisis of leadership in the union body.
Related Links:
* The Future of the Alliance
http://www.nu.ac.za/ccs/default.asp?2,40,5,78
* Sactwu berates government
http://www.africapulse.org/index.phpaction=viewarticle&articleid=416