Editor's note

In the wake of the 1967 Biafra civil war - the first major refugee crisis in independent Africa - the focus was on providing rural camps to house people seeking safety. This approach has gone through a major overhaul in the intervening decades as the UNHCR came to accept that many more refugees were living in cities than in camps. Cristiano D'Orsi sets out why the camps versus city debate remains contentious.

Guinea Bissau’s President Jose Mario Vaz has sacked the government - the latest act in a long confrontation between the presidency and the legislature. In this political climate, point out Clayton Besaw and Jonathan Powell, the likelihood of a peaceful presidential election later this month is in question.

Julie Masiga

Peace + Security Editor

Top Stories

Dagahaley – one of three camps that make up Kenya’s sprawling Dadaab refugee camp. Dai Kurokawa/EPA

Refugee camps versus urban refugees: what’s been said – and done

Cristiano D'Orsi, University of Johannesburg

Many African countries host large numbers of asylum seekers. But should they be held in camps, or be allowed to integrate into cities?

Guinean immigrants living and working in Portugal participate in a demonstration against the political crisis in Guinea-Bissau back in 2012. EPA/Tiago Petinga

Bissau-Guineans hold their breath – again – as uncertainty deepens

Clayton Besaw, University of Central Florida; Jonathan Powell, University of Central Florida

The political crisis and any potential instability may once again force the military’s hand

Arts + Culture

The burden of showing Springbok support in the 21st century

Francois Cleophas, Stellenbosch University

The springbok emblem was introduced under white rule in South Africa and by retaining it, it remains a burden for many South Africans who followed the Rugby World Cup.

Gender inequality in education is still an issue in Kenya and South Africa

Beatrice Akala, University of Johannesburg

Women face a number of socio-economic challenges that make it harder for them to access higher education.

Business + Economy

How failing power utility is fuelling South Africa’s economic crisis

Mark Swilling, Stellenbosch University

It's not clear whether South Africa's president can coordinate his ministers in a way that provides clarity about dealing with the country's energy crisis.

South Africa’s copyright bill is good for digital archives. Here’s why

Denise Rosemary Nicholson, University of the Witwatersrand

Libraries, archives, museums and galleries have finally been included in South Africa's contested new proposed copyright bill.

From our international editions

Ecuador’s fuel protests show the risks of removing fossil fuel subsidies too fast

Katherine Monahan, University of Ottawa

The mass protests shine a spotlight on the tension between policies that raise energy prices and day-to-day energy affordability.

California wildfires signal the arrival of a planetary fire age

Stephen Pyne, Arizona State University

The Earth may be entering an era in which natural and human-generated fire together are reshaping the planet.

En français

À la découverte des mousses cachées de Madagascar

Catherine Reeb, Muséum national d’histoire naturelle (MNHN); Amandine Allard, Muséum national d’histoire naturelle (MNHN); Élodie Boucheron-Dubuisson, Sorbonne Université; Lionel Kervran, Muséum national d’histoire naturelle (MNHN); Sébastien Leblond, Muséum national d’histoire naturelle (MNHN)

Un projet scientifique cherche à mieux connaître ces espèces végétales, présentes en grand nombre sur le territoire malgache.

Familles, voisins, collègues : des relais éthiques pour lutter contre le féminicide et ses maux

Adélaïde de Lastic, École normale supérieure (ENS); Fanny Verrax, University of Bergen; Michel Puech, Sorbonne Université

Entre l’échelle globale et l’échelle individuelle, les collectifs intermédiaires ont un rôle d’agent moral à ne pas négliger.

 
 
 
 

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