South Africa pushes for Africa migration talks

The South African Government is pushing for Africa-wide talks while seeking to manage the fallout over anti-immigration protests that have forced many migrants to leave the country and caused diplomatic tensions with some its African counterparts.

The country has faced a backlash over protests calling for the deportation of migrants who are in the country illegally and reported violent attacks against migrants. But South African officials believe wider migration talks among all African nations could address the broader causes of the migration crisis throughout the continent as well as South Africa.

The African Union, which includes 55 member nations, rejected a proposal last week by Ghana to add South Africa’s migration tensions to the agenda of the bloc’s next coordination meeting in October. South Africa opposed the idea, protesting it would be singled out without addressing the broader crisis. South Africa’s divisive migration situation is expected to be discussed by national leaders later this month at a Southern African Development Community summit in South Africa, which is pushing for a broader discussion by all members of the African Union.

The countries expected at the talks in the South African city of Durban include Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, which have been repatriating some of their nationals from South Africa.