"Help Them": 450 Refugees Stranded on Moore Road in Durban With 41 Children Under 4 Years Old

• A video posted on Instagram showed hundreds of refugees living on the streets of Moore Road, Durban, using plastic sheets as makeshift shelters
• Around 450 refugees with official status have been stranded on the street since mid-May 2026, after xenophobic violence pushed them from their homes
• With flood warnings issued for the area, disaster relief organisations and the public have been called on to provide urgent shelter

Heartbreaking footage from Moore Road in Durban shows hundreds of recognised refugees sleeping on the pavement with no sanitation, shelter, or access to healthcare. Instagram user @imageinsured posted the documentary-style video on 29 July 2026, and it quickly drew an outpouring of concern from South Africans online.

The footage captures rows of makeshift tents assembled from plastic sheets tied to walls and sticks, with personal belongings scattered across the pavement outside the Moore Road Lodge. Men, women, and young children are visible among those sheltering in the cold.

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450 Refugees With No Safe Place to Go

According to the post's caption, approximately 450 refugees have been stranded on Moore Road since mid-May 2026. All hold official refugee status, which means they cannot return to their home countries. Recent xenophobic violence forced them out of their homes, leaving them with nowhere else to turn.

As of 29 July, 250 people were still sleeping on the street. Among them are 41 children under the age of four, 11 of whom are under one year old, and four newborns. Disaster relief organisations have been working to provide food aid, but shelter remains a critical gap.

The situation has become even more urgent with flood warnings issued for the Durban area in the coming days. The account called on churches across the city to take in small groups of refugees for at least a week, and asked anyone able to assist to send a direct message so they could be connected to the relevant organisations.

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Durban Reacts to the Crisis on Their Streets

South Africans in the comments section on the Instagram page responded with concern, frustration, and calls for action:

@yashicapadia said:

"No to Afrophobia! We are celebrating Mandela Month. This is inhumane, not the South Africa that Mandela gave us."

@busi_kub_kat asked:

"Why are their embassies not stepping in and helping them with shelter?"

@creative_labsa wrote:

"How can we get the details of the organisations that are aiding them?"

Watch the current refugee crisis unfolding on Moore Road, Durban.

More on refugees and resettlement

• Briefly News recently reported on a South African couple who resettled in the US under a refugee programme, reuniting with their pet dogs after months apart.
• In another story, we broke down the key rules and timelines South Africans need to know to become US citizens after holding a Green Card.
• A South African mother and her autistic son celebrated a major milestone after relocating to Dallas, Texas, opening their first American bank accounts weeks after arriving.

Source: Briefly News