The African Regional Organisation of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC-Africa) has urged the international community to improve humanitarian assistance to refugee camps and beef up financial, material, and technical resources for African countries and communities hosting refugees.

In a statement to mark World Refugee Day 2024, which has ‘Solidarity with Refugees’ as the theme, General Secretary of ITUC, Joel Odigie, also urged the international community not to be silent on countries instigating, fueling, and delighting in sectarian and civil conflicts in Africa.

He said: “We are compelled to mention the disturbing roles of the United Arab Emirates in the conflict in Sudan. The UAE must be called to cease further arming of a faction to the conflict. Importantly, ITUC-Africa calls on the international community and all supranational institutions on the continent and globe not to be tired of engineering and refining dialogue, diplomacy, cooperation and partnership towards securing ceasefires in the conflicts in Palestine, Ukraine, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and anywhere violent conflicts are raging.”

ITUC-African insisted that stakeholders must act in unison to silence the guns and mobilise for the reconstruction of destroyed lives and communities that need peace to fledge.
It reaffirmed its commitment to advocating for the rights and well-being of refugees.

“We call on African governments, international organisations, and civil society to intensify their efforts to provide comprehensive support to refugees. These support services should include access to essential healthcare, education, and employment opportunities,” it stated.

The regional labour body urged governments to take further steps towards developing and deploying policies and programmes to address the challenges of poverty, insecurity, a participatory, responsive, and accountable democracy, human rights abuses, corruption, and impunity, which are push factors responsible for displacement.

ITUC-Africa, while it added that it joined the rest of the world in reflecting on refugees to ensure ways and means to prevent refugee crises and solve the crises that cause them, said it would continue to advocate the safe and sustainable return, reintegration, and rehabilitation of refugees worldwide.

World Refugee Day is an occasion to remind all stakeholders about the significant issues of concern to refugees and to recognise their resilience in rebuilding their lives.

Stakeholders said the theme underscores collective responsibility to stand with those who have been forced to flee their livelihoods, homes and communities due to discrimination, persecution, racism, extremism, persecution, and violent conflicts.

There are over 60 million refugees and internally displaced people in the world, with a disproportionate percentage found in Africa. Most of those refugees have been driven from their homes by armed strife, notably wars, sectarian violence, and extremist and insurgents’ criminal violent activities. Conflicts over natural resources – farmlands, water bodies and minerals – as well as border disputes have also led to displacement.

According to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), 89.3 million people worldwide were forcibly displaced as a result of persecution, conflict, violence, or human rights violations.

These displaced people are forced to search for haven and survival for themselves and their children. Sadly, most of them are forced to secure safety in settings that fail to meet standards for even basic human dignity. The protection of these people’s human rights is highly uncertain and unpredictable.

The African continent has a long history of both hosting and producing refugees. Estimates suggest that Africa is home to 26 per cent of the world’s estimated 18 million people.

ITUC-Africa said as a mark of our resolute solidarity with refugees, it calls on African governments to recommit to the ratification and implementation of national, regional, and international instruments related to refugees and other vulnerable groups.

“We also call on our governments to review and improve their labour laws to facilitate refugees’ access to the labour market and guarantee their right to freedom of association,” it added.