South Africa: Helping detained migrants and separated families to restore contact with their loved ones in 2016

The Pretoria Regional Delegation continues to work with various stakeholders with the objective of assisting people in humanitarian need as well as capacitating national authorities to enable them to adequately respond to humanitarian needs. 

In 2016, the delegation visited Lindela Holding Facility to monitor conditions of immigration detention and to address the needs of the vulnerable migrants. The delegation also enabled migrants at the facility to use the phone service to initiate and maintain contact with their relatives.

Highlights of our work in South Africa in 2016.

	1,000 migrants used the phone service to initiate and maintain contact with their families
	310 Red Cross Messages collected from vulnerable migrants were distributed to their families enabling them to make contact
	30 participants from African countries benefitted from the 16th IHL Regional Seminar co-hosted with the Government of South Africa and the Department of International Relations and Cooperation
	Donated forensic equipment to the Johannesburg mortuary in South Africa to improve the management of unidentified bodies including deceased migrants.

Read the full update of our work in South Africa