Migration—A View from Africa

In Africa, there are an estimated 16.3 million migrants and close to 13.5 million internally displaced persons(IDPs) in 19 countries (UN, 2002; Norwegian Refugee Council, 2002). There are estimated to be some 3.25 million African refugees and asylum seekers. The International Labour Organization estimates that the number of labor migrants in Africa today constitutes one-fifth ...

The Kampala Convention and Its Contributions to International Law

Over the years, Africa has had to grapple with multifarious humanitarian situations arising from conflicts and natural disasters that have afflicted the continent, resulting in the massive displacement and flight of millions of peoples both within their territories and across borders. As a result, the continent has earned the reputation of being labelled the region ...

The real reasons behind South Sudan crisis

The escalating crisis proves that secession is not a panacea for peace and democracy. While the situation in Somalia remains fragile, the Republic of Sudan and the State of Eritrea face a precarious future. Most dreadful for the entire region, however, is the possibility of another state failure in the form of South Sudan. With ...

The Kampala Convention: A Significant Achievement of AU in Setting Norms

This article identifies the key contributions of the Kampala Convention through legal analysis and interpretation of its provisions. More importantly, it sketches the most notable and significant contributions of the Kampala Convention in terms of the protection gap it seeks to fill, and its novelty as well as its contributions to the international, regional and ...

The International Criminal Court and African Leaders: Deterrence and generational shift of attitude

With thirty‐four of its member states being state parties to the ICC, the AU’s main disagreement is not with the ICC, as a court, but rather with the prosecutorial policy, the powers of the UNSC and more fundamentally with some of the provisions of the Rome Statute of the ICC. For many African scholars, as ...

The Global Compact on safe, orderly and regular migration: What Africa should demand from the world and from itself

The movement of people today, whether voluntary or forced, regular or undocumented, or within or beyond borders, constitutes a complex process highlighting some of the most tragic, intricate and contentious issues of governance and diplomatic relations. At the same time, migration remains, as it was for centuries, source of integration, prosperity and propagation of cultures, ...

The Valletta Dilemma. Why migration governance in Africa should take centre stage

In view of the current migration crisis, the European Union (EU) has called a summit on migration in Valletta, Malta from 11-12 November 2015. African representatives have been invited to participate in this meeting. Ahead of the summit, both the EU and the African Union (AU) have put forward separate position papers reflecting their priorities ...

Potential Causes, Consequences of S. Sudan becoming a “Failed State”

Oxymoronically described as a ‘pre-failed’ state, the current crisis in South Sudan emanates from the failure of the South Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) to transform into a democratic party, and a state army respectively. Borne out of a post-independence political indulgence and inclination marked by the absence of any credible and meaningful political and ...

The Global Compact on safe, orderly and regular migration: What Africa should demand from the world and from itself

The movement of people today, whether voluntary or forced, regular or undocumented, or within or beyond borders, constitutes a complex process highlighting some of the most tragic, intricate and contentious issues of governance and diplomatic relations. At the same time, migration remains, as it was for centuries, source of integration, prosperity and propagation of cultures, ...

The AU reform agenda: What areas of reform are most transformational and of the highest return for the continent?

Figuratively, a reformer needs a telescope for long-horizon vision and a microscope for the basics. The AU needs long-term foresight that focuses on the superstructure, the end state and envisaged vision of the reform; but more importantly, it requires a strong foundational substructure. The AU reform agenda began with an overall strategic vision as provided ...