Events

Recently, there has been a proliferation of representations of refugees, asylum seekers and irregular migrants waiting at land, sea as well as air border crossings headed towards Europe. These groups are often framed in highly emotive language that associates them with threats, or portrayed as either tragic or miserable, or as the exemplary citizen. There has also been an increase in emphasis on normative concepts such as ‘safe, orderly and regular migration’ in contemporary migration debates and policies; over and above already established ones such as ‘integration’. Often, we also find inherent presumptions that structural disparities between Europe and Africa can be resolved by addressing the root causes of migration and displacement via research and practice without necessarily addressing the causes of oppression. Conversations about African migrants tend to portray Europe as the main host continent for the majority of African migrants in spite of the greater numerical significance of internal and cross-border migration within and across the countries of the global South. All these developments point to the need for ongoing reflection and in particular the need to address northern-centric views in social science and public debate. This call invites abstract submissions to participate in an online workshop as […]

The African Centre for Migration & Society (ACMS) is running a series of interventions (including public workshops) to unpack the role of international protection and the reality of human rights-based protection claims on the ground in Southern Africa today. Special attention will be given to the influence and impact of both the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR) and Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) in the current context of Covid-19. These events are part of PROTECT's Expert Forums series, all of which seek to explore the legal potential and impacts of the Global Compacts on Refugees and Migration. The events are organized by PROTECT's South Africa-based researchers, Jo Vearey, Nicholas Maple, and Kudakwashe Vanyoro. Key topics and issues to be covered in this series: • Protection claims of refugees in South Africa • The stretching and shrinking of international protection via state and local practices • Ground-level approaches to protection for marginalised groups The impact of Covid-19 on: • International protection and localised forms and norms of protection •State approaches to health security and the international securitisation agenda • Regional responses to forced displacement, crisis and instability Program 22 September Exploring the Boundaries of International Protection and Human […]

South Africa’s recent elections mean coalitions local governments and increasingly competitive local politics. An already weakened bureaucracy and a near empty public purse offer few resources to politicians and parties jockeying for position and electoral advantage. To divert attention from their shortcomings, elected officials are ever more likely to scapegoat immigrants and migrants. Community leaders – elected, selected, or self-appointed – will similarly capitalise on xenophobia to their own advantage. Past experience of xenophobic violence across the country tells us this. Past experience tells us this will be deadly, destructive and further denude our country’s already faltering public institutions.  As a municipality now managed by a coalition government and the city most affected by xenophobic violence, Johannesburg will not be spared. But what is to be done? There is now need to publicly recognise the acute dangers lying ahead and find ways to navigate a fragmented and perilous political landscape. To this end, the African Centre for Migration & Society (ACMS) and the Wits-Oxford Mobility Governance Lab is organising a civil society consultative meeting to discuss and prepare strategies for engagement with the incoming administration post recent local government elections. A new administration demands new and different forms of engagement. […]

The African Centre for Migration & Society (ACMS) at the University of the Witwatersrand and Department of Political Science at the University of Vienna in partnership with the African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) and the Anti- Racism Working Group of the IMISCOE International Migration Research Network cordially invite you to a roundtable and public discussion on Rethinking Migration Research, Teaching and Practice. An ongoing gap in genuine perspectives that are the outcome of robust engagement of scholars and practitioners across the Global North and the Global South runs the risk of reducing decolonisation to a normative and at times arbitrary framework, silencing certain perspectives and/or side-lining existing work. What does decolonisation have to offer to migration researchers and practitioners that differs or is inimitable from pre-existing notions of reflexivity in the field, and what, if any, are its potential pitfalls? Centred on three themes (rethinking the migration research agenda and practice; reflecting on fieldworks and methods; changing the way we teach), this roundtable and public discussion aims to engage with the question if decolonisation as an analytical and reflexive tool can provide new or critical knowledge about more productive, inclusive and transformative approaches, language and categories of doing migration research, […]

Background Globally, as well as in the Southern Africa region, a recent rise in anti-migrant attitudes, including an increase in violent acts against migrants, has drawn increasing attention from political actors as well as civil society. While many initiatives to promote social cohesion have been implemented over the years, there is a dearth of research or evidence to understand the impact of such activities. Are media campaigns effective? If so, with which types of audience and what types of messaging have the greatest impact? Can integrating migrants into sports leagues and cultural events help reduce anxiety and promote a more positive image of migrants among the host community? Recent advances in brain and behavioral science (BBS) are now providing policymakers and practitioners with new tools to design, implement and measure more impactful social cohesion and peacebuilding programs to reduce xenophobia and violent conflict, and promote cooperation across various social divides. In this webinar, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the African Centre for Migration & Society (ACMS), Prof. Linda Tropp of the University of Massachusetts – Amherst, and Beyond Conflict (a USbased NGO with over 30 years of experience collaborating with local actors and behavioral scientists in building social cohesion […]

African Queer & Trans Displacements is a two-day conference bringing together scholars, policymakers, practitioners, advocates and activists working on the forced or voluntary migration of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI+) Africans. The intersection of sexuality, gender and displacement remains understudied, especially in Global South contexts, despite the fact that the vast majority of the world’s queer migrants, refugees and asylum seekers live in these countries. At the same time, the social, legal, political and economic needs of LGBTQI+ migrants, refugees and asylum seekers remain overlooked by both queer rights movements and migrant/refugee rights movements, resulting in inadequate support services and poorly developed policies. This conference aims to foster dialogue across these divides, while also providing space to engage with migration scholarship centred on Africa and its peoples. Existing scholarship tends to elide the cultural, linguistic and social differences of LGBTQI+ individuals seeking asylum, homogenising disparate experiences and backgrounds under the broad category of ‘queer asylum seeker’. Countries of birth are largely presented as inconsequential, or as narrative elements rather than critical considerations. This provides little clarity of the specificities of leaving any one place, and even less of an understanding about the relationship between places left behind […]

This special seminar is being hosted by the Refugee Law Initiative (RLI) in London, the African Centre for Migration and Society (ACMS) in Johannesburg, and the East African Centre for Forced Migration and Displacement (ACFMD) in Nairobi. The seminar will discuss the recent Asylum Partnership Arrangement signed between the UK and Rwanda, under which certain asylum-seekers can be relocated to Rwanda from the UK for possible permanent settlement. The seminar draws on a range of perspectives from researchers and practitioners engaging with this issue. The event facilitates topical debate about the legality and feasibility of this agreement and the likely impact it will have on affected populations: What does this agreement mean for refugees and asylum seekers? What does the agreement signal for the global refugee regime at large? What are the major legal and practical obstacles likely to be encountered? What are the alternatives to such an approach for the UK? Will it have wider ramifications for refugees seeking protection within the EU? Discussants include: Allan Munyao Mukuki, East African Centre for Forced Migration Dr Nikolas Feith Tan, PhD Fellow at the Danish Institute for Human Rights and Aarhus University in international refugee law Zoe Bantleman, Immigration Law Practitioners' […]

Wits University’s African Centre for Migration & Society and the Wits-Oxford Mobility Governance Lab, invite you to a panel discussion reflecting on the meaning and implications of xenophobic violence for South Africa’s economic and political future. The discussion stems from a newly released  Xenowatch report: Xenophobic Violence in South Africa: An Analysis of Trends, Causal Factors and Responses. Drawing on more than a decade of original research across South Africa, the report describes xenophobic violence as an increasingly integral part of the country’s socio-economic and political landscape. Abetted by anti-immigrant attitudes, xenophobic violence is rooted in democratic deficits: threats to rule of law and constitutional credibility. It highlights that violence is distinctly spatialised, often occurring repeatedly in specific localities where economic and political competition is acute. It demonstrates that while inequality fuels popular dissatisfaction, political opportunists and entrepreneurs scapegoat and victimise immigrants and other outsiders for their own advantage. The consequences of South Africa’s anti-outsider violence extend far beyond the immediate victims but affect lives across many townships and informal settlements. Yet while violence has long been a local matter, the forthcoming national leadership contest has seen xenophobic rhetoric and mobilisation become increasingly well-organised and national. Together these reflect a […]