East Africa has seen its share of humanitarian crises over the years and while the international community has come to their aid, the problem does not end when a victim is given access to humanitarian relief. Natasha Bezuidenhout from South Africa’s Independent Online uncovered a story of a Congolese woman who is a former refugee camp resident and who was recently attacked outside her home. The victim, Mami Vadne, says she now lives in fear after her attackers threatened her outside a follow up doctors visit from the wounds she sustained during her initial attack.

This is an unfortunate, but not uncommon, example of what can be waiting for refugees once they leave these camps. The victim’s husband stated that they were living in a refugee camp Cape Town, South Africa for protection from xenophobic violence. In the Congo, they feared violent militias. Now in South Africa, they fear criminals attacking them as foreigners. Refugee camps provide a temporary refuge from violence and a source of needed basic necessities, but refugee camps are not a permanent solution and nor should they be. Life after the refugee camp is an integral part of regional stability and the prevention of re-occurrences of these humanitarian crises.

It appears that the difficulty of rebuilding lives after leaving refugee camps is not being properly addressed and this neglect in part has led to Mami’s beating. She is unfortunately a representation of something that happens all too often. Advocates for Human Dignity’s Access to Justice in East Africa Campaign seeks to provide assistance to this area of concern. Working with partner organisations on the ground while also providing educational events and projects to promote and expand awareness of this key issue will be part of a multi-faceted approach to help provide support for stability in lives of those who have gone through too much already. While some of us wonder if the tube line will be down or if there is construction on the way to work, people like Mami’s husband may fear that their wife could be brutally attacked while they are at work providing for their family.