migrationlatest news & developments
Global reality: Africa plays an increasingly central role in global debates surrounding development finance, climate governance, migration and international peace and security yet it does not have influence. Photo: APS

“You don’t get what you deserve; you get what you negotiate”

As the global order becomes more multipolar, opportunities for African agency are expanding. Yet these opportunities will only translate into meaningful influence if African states strengthen their coordination, develop sophisticated negotiating strategies and engage proactively in shaping the rules of global governance

Effective border management relies on both strong infrastructure and intelligence-driven cooperation with neighbouring states. Photo: Supplied

Order at the border: Illegal migration and the state’s responsibility

A responsible approach to the migration question must recognise the dignity of migrants and the state’s governance responsibilities

Author: Abdulrazak Gurnah at LiteretureXchange Festival (2025
Denmark) Photo: Hreinn Gudlaugsson

Abdulrazak Gurnah’s Theft: A story of servitude, survival and the search for home

Nobel Prize winner Abdulrazak Gurnah returns with Theft, a moving portrait of loss, longing, and the elusive idea of home.

Members of Operation Dudula prevented people from other African countries from using South African health facilities. Photo: Delwyn Verasamy/M&G

ActionSA pushes for constitutional change as Operation Dudula  targets migrants at clinics

The Human Rights Commission and legal experts say the Constitution, the National Health Act, the UN Refugee Convention and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights obligate South Africa to provide basic healthcare to all people in its borders

A moment to reflect: The US is politicising the issue of asylum, but in South Africa some populist politicians do the same. Photo: Delwyn Verasamy

SA politicians also weaponise migration

South Africa must rid itself of issues that prevent a fair, rights-based approach to people’s mobility

Cogta and Salga are  pushing for an amendment Bill that seeks to remove the undue influence of smaller parties on the appointment of political office bearers in municipalities to be approved as law by next year’s elections.
 (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)

2024: The year democracy was tested in Africa

Coming on the heels of seven coups since 2020, 19 countries held elections but with mixed outcomes

With nearly 2 500 people killed in recent Israeli strikes on Lebanon, nobody in the country is safe, and the only help for Africans is from other migrant workers. (Photo by Ahmad Kaddoura/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Africans trapped in Lebanon by ‘kafala’ labour system and Israel’s bombs

With nearly 2 500 people killed in recent Israeli strikes on Lebanon, nobody in the country is safe, and the only help for Africans is from other migrant workers

The bodies of numerous bee-eaters (above) and swallows who had migrated from the Northern Hemisphere were found around the country. (Supplied)

Scores of migratory birds perished during SA’s recent cold spell

The bodies of numerous bee-eaters and swallows who had migrated from the Northern Hemisphere were found around the country