Aligning South Africa’s migration policies with its African vision

South Africa needs to embrace migration’s development potential and provide legal pathways that promote regular migration.

Despite its commitment to prioritise Africa-oriented migration measures, domestically, South Africa is advancing some concerning policies. The result is institutionalised negative attitudes towards low-skilled African migrants and asylum seekers. But South Africa can turn the tide. It can do this by embracing migration’s development potential and following through on promises to provide legal pathways that promote orderly, regular migration, instead of continuing to prioritise punitive measures.

About the author

Aimée-Noël Mbiyozo is a senior research consultant at the Institute for Security Studies in Pretoria. She is a migration expert who has worked for six years as a senior migration consultant, researching and implementing responses in high-flow regions, including Africa, the Middle East and Asia. She has a thorough understanding of migration drivers and migrant behaviour at a time of unprecedented movement, particularly in high-risk and fragile environments.

Picture: UNHCR/James Oatway