Aron Hagos Tesfai (PhD) is a researcher and human rights activist focusing on forced displacement, particularly the psychosocial well-being of refugees, (im) moblity, transnational networks, and social movements. He is currently involved in a multi-country participatory project called Growing Up Across Borders (GRABS), studying refugee youth and their transition to adulthood. Additionally, he coordinates the Research Commission of the South Africa Refugee-led Network, enhancing research capacity and advocacy. He is affiliated with MIGLOBA and is a member of IMISCOE.
In February 2026, a visit organised by the www.sarefugeelednetwork.org.za (SARLN) brought together refugee leaders and researchers to visit 12 refugee-led organisations (RLOs) operating across a few South African cities. The purpose of the mission was to better understand the context in which RLOs operate, the challenges they face, and to explore how best the network can support them. The delegation also engaged with partner institutions at universities and advocacy groups.
It was a unique opportunity to observe how refugee-led initiatives function on the ground and to explore how partnerships with civil society and research institutions can strengthen their work. The mission reflects SARLN’s commitment to remaining closely connected to its member organisations, continuously learning from their experiences, and ensuring that the network’s advocacy and strategic direction are informed by the realities on the ground.
How RLOs are Operating
RLOs in South Africa operate under restrictive migration policies, documentation challenges, limited access to funding, and growing anti-migrant rhetoric. Despite these obstacles, RLOs have attested that they are the primary actors responding to the challenges of refugees. Even more so, they offer innovative models for social justice and grassroots movements. Many of these organisations operate with minimal resources and rely on volunteer leadership, community contributions, and the personal commitment of refugee leaders. Their work demonstrates how community-driven initiatives can address social challenges even in contexts of uncertainty and exclusion.
One of the most striking lessons from the mission was that RLOs rarely target refugees alone. Instead, their programs are intentionally structured to address shared challenges affecting both refugees and South African communities. Programs focus on issues such as access to social service, livelihood opportunities, barriers to women entrepreneurship, gender-based violence, or youth vulnerability. These initiatives reflect a deep understanding that the challenges faced by refugees are closely intertwined with broader socioeconomic structures and inequalities in South Africa.
According to StatSA, approximately 23 million people in South Africa live below the lower-bound poverty line, representing nearly 38% of the population. Millions of South Africans thus face the same structural barriers to employment, social services, and opportunities as many migrants and refugees. To address these, many RLOs offer vocational training, entrepreneurship skills, digital literacy, as well as human rights advocacy and social cohesion programs that benefit both refugees and South Africans. By doing so, they contribute to building more inclusive local economies and stronger social communities.
Challenging Misleading Narratives
Public debates and social media narrations often frame refugees and migrants as responsible for unemployment, crime, or mounting pressure on public services. However, such narratives not only overlook the contribution of RLOs and refugees at large, but the deeper structural causes of many of these problems. For instance, migrants are often accused of overburdening public healthcare services. Yet the recent embezzlement of billions of rand at the Tembisa Hospital shows that governance failures, corruption and nepotism within public institutions have far greater impacts on service delivery. Many political actors seeking public support have increasingly used anti-migrant rhetoric to mobilise voters. It clearly shows that blaming migrants is a quite convenient political narrative that helps to divert attention away from the underlying issues that affect millions of South Africans.
The work of ROLS offers, however, an important counternarrative - shared solutions to shared problems. Their programs demonstrate that addressing issues such as youth unemployment, gender inequality, and social exclusion requires collective community responses, not scapegoating. Through advocacy, entrepreneurship training, vocational programs, women’s empowerment initiatives, youth sport activities, and digital skills development, RLOs contribute to building local resilience and social cohesion. They foster collaboration rather than competition. Refugee leaders are investing their own resources, skills, and networks to sustain these programs. Their efforts reflect the creativity and resilience of community-led movements working under difficult circumstances.
Lessons for Policymakers and Institutions
The experiences of RLOs offer important lessons for policymakers, civil society organisations, and international partners. First, they demonstrate that community-led initiatives are often best positioned to identify and respond to local challenges. Second, they highlight the importance of addressing structural inequalities that affect both refugees and citizens. Policies that focus solely on migration control without addressing unemployment, poverty, and social exclusion risk reinforcing divisions rather than solving problems. Finally, RLOs show that inclusive approaches—ones that bring together refugees and host communities around shared goals—can strengthen social cohesion and reduce tensions.
In conclusion, by designing programs that respond to the shared vulnerabilities of marginalized communities, RLOs contribute to building more inclusive and socially just societies. Their work challenges simplistic narratives that portray migrants as burdens and instead highlight their role as entrepreneurs, community leaders, partners in development, and even security-providers. At a time when xenophobia and misinformation are increasingly shaping public discourse, the experiences of these organisations remind us of an important truth: the real path toward social justice lies not in division, but in collective action to address the structural challenges facing all disadvantaged communities.
Aron Tesfai (Phd)
Researcher on Forced Migration and Refugees
SARLN Research Commission Coordinator
More information about the visit and RLOs see (20) Aron Tesfai | LinkedIn