Global Initiative Bi-weekly site updates

   

                                                                                                April 28th to May 08th, 2025

Kenya

Somalis, South Sudanese lead in refugee population in Kenya as numbers surge to over 800,000

Somalia and South Sudan remain the largest sources of refugees in Kenya, as the number of refugees and asylum seekers rose by 19.1 per cent to 823,932 in 2024, highlighting the country’s growing role as a regional safe haven.

The surge, captured in the Economic Survey 2024 released on Tuesday, reflects a broader trend across the Horn of Africa, where conflict and insecurity continue to displace thousands. The number represents a sharp rise from the 691,868 recorded in 2023 and marks a 63.2 per cent increase over the last four years, when Kenya hosted 504,854 refugees and asylum seekers. More than half of the refugee population in Kenya originates from Somalia, which accounts for 56.9 per cent, while South Sudan follows with 23.4 per cent. Other key countries of origin include the Democratic Republic of Congo (over 63,000), Ethiopia (more than 42,000) and Burundi (32,380).

Kenya embraces refugee integration – and citizens are on board

The Kenyan government has officially launched its Shirika Plan, an initiative to turn the country’s two refugee camps – Dadaab and Kakuma – into self-reliant integrated settlements, allowing refugees and host communities to live and work side by side and access donor and government services.

The Shirika Plan follows a similar pattern to other large refugee-hosting countries in the Global South – notably Jordan and Ethiopia – adopting policies that allow refugees to integrate into host communities and labour markets. This comes on the back of commitments made through the 2018 Global Compact for Refugees and World Bank financial support for refugee rights reforms.

South African

UNHCR and TECNO Expand Global Partnership to Empower Refugee Children and Youth Through Education

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has announced an expanded three-year global partnership with TECNO, an innovative technology brand, to address critical education gaps for refugee children and youth across Africa.

Building on five years of successful collaboration, the two parties launched the special project “Together We Can Bring Education to African Children and Youth” to support two UNHCR education initiatives: the Primary Impact Program and the DAFI (Albert Einstein German Academic Refugee Initiative) Tertiary Scholarship Program. Over the next three years, the partnership aims to benefit 54,000-plus refugee children and 15 DAFI scholars through enhanced access to quality learning opportunities. Of the 31.6 million refugees under UNHCR’s mandate, approximately 14.8 million are refugee children of school age.

Malawi

Malawi: Camp closure sparks asylum requests from Mozambicans

As Malawi’s government decommissions Nyamithuthu Settlement in Nsanje District today, around 336 Mozambican nationals currently residing at the site have refused voluntary repatriation and are instead seeking refugee status in the country.

Refugee Department Administrator Hilda Kausiwa confirmed the developments to The Daily Times. “The Ministry of Homeland Security, through the Department of Refugees, commenced voluntary repatriation of Mozambican asylum seekers on March 1, targeting those living at Nyamithuthu Settlement in Nsanje District. “The process, facilitated in coordination with Mozambican authorities and international partners, has so far seen the successful return of 3,050 individuals to their home country via the Shire River. Over 5,000 individuals registered for repatriation across the district,” Kausiwa said.

Historic $300m fund launches to transform refugee education and employment across Africa

In what experts are calling one of the largest private humanitarian commitments ever made, the Mastercard Foundation announced today a landmark $300 million partnership with UNHCR to revolutionise education and employment opportunities for refugees across Africa over the next five years.

The initiative, unveiled at the 2025 Africa Forum on Displacement in Nairobi, aims to provide more than half a million displaced youth with education and create pathways to dignified work for 200,000 young refugees by 2030 all against the backdrop of unprecedented humanitarian crises affecting 45 million displaced people across the continent. This extraordinary commitment comes at a time of unprecedented displacement across Africa, and globally,” said Kelly T. Clements, UNHCR Deputy High Commissioner. “Its scale and long-term focus lay the foundation for meaningful recovery and lasting contributions to host communities.”

Lebanon

Palestinians in Lebanon fear another ‘War on the Camps’ as Israeli airstrikes continue

I usually do not like to sleep outside my home in Shatila, but these days I feel even more attached to the camp and my home in it,” says Umm Mahmoud, a Palestinian originally from Tabaria living in Shatila refugee camp in south Beirut. “I have lived in this home for fifty years after I married and moved from Wavell Refugee camp in Baalbek. I am now haunted by the possibility of not having a base here, not having a home.” “This is making me nostalgic for the camp and everything in it,” she continues. “Even during the war days I lived through in Shatila, the siege I cherish all of it. I also speak to Umm Ahmad, another resident of the camp who feels the same way. “I feel so attached to the camp these days, it is like my paradise,” she says. “I want to walk around and smell it, feel it, touch the walls, and embrace everyone….It’s when you are aware that you’re about to lose something, at which point you say to yourself it is beautiful.”

U.N. Warns 66,000 Palestinian Children Suffer Acute Malnutrition Due to Israel’s Gaza Blockade

Israeli strikes on Gaza have killed at least 11 Palestinians so far today, with deadly attacks reported in Khan Younis, Beit Lahia and Gaza City.

The strikes follow Israeli attacks that killed 54 Palestinians on Monday, and as the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, reported some 66,000 children in Gaza are suffering severe malnutrition due to Israel’s total blockade of food and aid, now in its ninth week. Some Palestinians have resorted to eating turtle meat, grass or rotten or expired food. This is a displaced Palestinian mother in Gaza City.

Rwanda

Rwanda in talks to receive migrants deported from US, foreign minister says

Rwanda is in the early stages of talks to receive immigrants deported from the United States, Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe said on television late on Sunday.

Rwanda has in recent years positioned itself as a destination country for migrants that Western countries would like to remove, despite concerns by rights groups that Kigali does not respect some of the most fundamental human rights. Kigali signed an agreement with Britain in 2022 to take in thousands of asylum seekers from the United Kingdom before the deal was scrapped last year by then newly-elected Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

“We are in discussions with the United States,” Nduhungirehe said in an interview with the state broadcaster Rwanda TV. “It has not yet reached a stage where we can say exactly how things will proceed, but the talks are ongoing… still in the early stages. US President Donald Trump launched a sweeping crackdown on immigration and attempted to freeze the US refugee resettlement program after the start of his second term in January.

Vietnam

Recent Developments In Vietnam's University Regulations Increase Foreign Investment Opportunities

To foster foreign investment and attract leading international universities to establish campuses in Vietnam, the government has recently adopted several regulations, including Decree No. 124/2025 on foreign cooperation and investment in the field of education, Decree No. 125/2024 on regulatory requirements for educational investment and operation, and Decision No. 452/QD-TTg approving the Planning of the Network of University and Teaching Institutions for the Period 2021–2030, with a Vision to 2050 (the "University Network Plan").

However, foreign investors and private higher educational institutions must still navigate regulatory complexities, build strong academic reputations, and ensure financial sustainability to compete effectively in an increasingly competitive landscape. Below are highlights of recent developments in university-related regulations that may open new opportunities for foreign investment in Vietnam……..

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