Migration & Labour

A US 1% remittance tax took effect on 1 January, levied on cash transfers abroad while bank- and card-funded ones are exempt; early effects are muted as migrants shift to exempt channels. The live crisis is in South Africa: police deployed to Durban June 22 after anti-migrant mob attacks left 3,000+ Malawians sheltering in an open field; 262 Nigerians were repatriated June 23 under disputed "voluntary" framing; a June 30 ultimatum by Operation Dudula and affiliated groups is the next pressure point. The ANC is caught between 35%+ unemployment driving domestic scapegoating and African Union solidarity obligations, ECOWAS states are furious over the Nigerian repatriations. The structural driver is food insecurity and drought in Malawi, Zimbabwe and Mozambique pushing regional migration flows into South Africa. Watch June 30 violence indicators, AU and SADC emergency mechanisms, and Nigeria's diplomatic response.