South Africa’s foreign ministry formally proposed a continent-wide migration conference on Thursday, calling for revival of a decade-old African Union framework that treats migration as a matter of economic development, regional integration, peace and governance. The proposal places Pretoria squarely in the role of institutional actor seeking multilateral accountability mechanisms, even as the government faces mounting scrutiny over its own capacity to protect foreign nationals within its borders.
The call follows weeks of deadly anti-migrant violence inside South Africa, the continent’s wealthiest nation and a long-standing destination for people seeking work and refuge. The foreign ministry framed the proposed dialogue as essential to examining migration’s continental scope, arguing that the phenomenon exceeds any single government’s jurisdictional reach. “The need for this dialogue has become increasingly urgent. Migration is a continental phenomenon whose consequences extend beyond the jurisdiction of any single state,” the ministry stated. It noted that while African nations have participated in migration discussions with other regions, the continent has not yet convened a comprehensive forum where member states can collectively assess Africa’s migration challenges and opportunities.
The violence intensified this year after vigilante groups ordered undocumented foreigners to leave South Africa by June 30. South African police have confirmed at least four migrant deaths, though some foreign governments dispute that figure and claim higher casualty counts. An AFP tally based on repatriation figures provided by African countries puts the number of recent departures at more than 176,000.
Meanwhile, two member states have moved to escalate the matter through AU channels. Ghana and Nigeria have both pushed to place anti-migrant violence on the bloc’s agenda. Ghana has called for an AU debate at the summit scheduled for early next year. Nigeria, which has experienced recurring diplomatic tensions with South Africa over attacks on its citizens, has similarly advocated for continental attention to the issue.
The proposed conference would address root causes of anti-migrant sentiment and develop a coordinated African response to xenophobia, discrimination and violence. The foreign ministry emphasized that such a forum would allow member states to examine both the challenges and opportunities that migration presents across the continent.
What changed, at least procedurally: the AU’s executive council, convening this week in Ethiopia, decided not to include migration on the agenda for the bloc’s mid-term review meeting scheduled for October in Egypt. That decision came despite South Africa’s push for the issue to receive priority attention at the continental level, raising questions about whether Pretoria’s proposed framework will find institutional traction before conditions on the ground deteriorate further.
Cycles of anti-migrant violence in South Africa span nearly two decades. The convergence of vigilante action, mass departures and diplomatic pressure from affected nations has produced what the government characterizes as a crisis requiring coordinated continental governance and policy responses rather than isolated national approaches. Whether the AU’s institutional machinery, having already sidelined the issue once this week, will move quickly enough to match that framing remains the central accountability question.