MHRC pens SA counterpart on anti-immigrant attacks

State-funded Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) has expressed dismay over escalating anti-immigrant attacks in South Africa and has since written to their South African counterparts on the matter.

In a letter dated June 25 2026 addressed to South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) chairperson the Reverend Chris Nissen, MHRC chairperson Chikondi Chijozi Jere said foreigners in the rainbow nation continue facing serious threats to their lives, dignity and security without adequate protection from relevant authorities.

The letter has since proposed an urgent virtual engagement between MHRC and SAHRC in the coming week to explore pragmatic joint actions to be undertaken to address the plight facing affected Malawians and other foreigners in South Africa.

Some repatriated Malawians captured on arrival at Kamuzu

Stadium in Blantyre. I Nation

Reads part of the letter: “As national human rights institutions, our commissions share a solemn duty under the Paris Principles to monitor, document and respond to human rights violations and to hold the State accountable to its obligation to protect the rights of its citizens.

“However, this commission’s [MHRC] protective mandate does not extend beyond Malawi’s borders. We, therefore, turn to the [SAHRC] as the institution vested with the jurisdiction and standing to act within South Africa, to take urgent and visible measures, if not already done, to monitor the situation, document violations and intervene to protect the human rights of the affected persons, who it appears, from available reports, are not being protected by the State.”

Undocumented foreigners have until Tuesday (June 30) to leave South Africa and return to their respective countries, an unofficial ultimatum set by anti-immigrant groups dubbed March and March and Operation Dudula, among others.

The anti-immigrant groups blame undocumented foreigners for snatching jobs from locals and have since warned of dire consequences should the foreigners not leave by the deadline.

The South African Government has, however, repeatedly warned that it will not allow anarchy.

But as tension rise ahead of the June 30 deadline, MHRC’s letter argued that no circumstances justify violence against any person, or the failure of the State to discharge its obligation to protect everyone within its territory, without discrimination, as guaranteed under South Africa’s Constitution, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and binding international human rights law.

MHRC, therefore, appealed to SAHRC for an immediate and sustained exchange of information on the safety, whereabouts and treatment of affected foreigners, including Malawians, together with confirmation that they have full and unimpeded access to the SAHRC’s protection, complaints and reporting mechanisms.

The letter said while Malawi maintains an Embassy in Pretoria and a Consulate General in Johannesburg, the scale and volatility of the present situation demands a far closer institutional partnership between MHRC and SAHRC.

Further, MHRC appealed for SAHRC’s active monitoring and documentation of human rights violations committed against foreign nationals to ensure victims are afforded redress and perpetrators held accountable.

“A joint public statement by our two commissions condemning the violence in the strongest terms, affirming that the enforcement of the law is the State’s exclusive function and calling unequivocally upon the relevant South African authorities to fulfill their constitutional and international duty to protect every person within their territory,” stated the MHRC letter.

“We are firmly of the view that such a statement would carry significant moral weight and send a powerful message of regional solidarity.”

MHRC also requested SAHRC’s assistance in ensuring that while Malawians await their repatriation, they should be afforded shelter, safety and humane treatment and that their departure is conducted with the dignity and security guaranteed to them under international and regional human rights law.

But as of Friday, we were yet to receive a response from SAHRC on the matter.

Ahead of the June 30 deadline, attacks towards foreigners have intensified, with countries, including Malawi, repatriating its people.

A returnee overview from the Department of Disaster Management Affairs (Dodma) shows that 90 percent of Malawians that have been repatriated are women with the remaining 10 percent being men.

Meanwhile, Malawians fleeing the anti-immigrant attacks are seeking refuge at Sherwood Hall in Durban as they await buses to ferry them back home.

South Africa’s Minister of Justice Mmamoloko Kubayi was quoted by eNCA on Friday as having said the situation at Sherwood Hall has become untenable as the numbers swell and humanitarian needs have grown in recent weeks.

“We had to make interventions to ensure that we are able to fulfill our obligations in this regard, as South Africa. In terms of our international obligations as well, but within our own legal framework,” he said.

Initially, the Malawi Government through Dodma, planned to repatriate 15 000 Malawians.

But the number is anticipated to increase further ahead of June 30 as more Malawians keep fleeing the anti-immigrant attacks in respective localities.

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