In a significant twist to a long-running legal saga, Minister of Justice Mmamoloko Kubayi said Home Affairs would lift the five-year entry ban on Nigerian evangelist Pastor Timothy Omotoso if the National Prosecuting Authority succeeds in its attempt to appeal his acquittal on sexual offences charges. Omotoso was declared an undesirable person in South Africa and handed a five-year ban in May 2025, after which he left the country voluntarily. The move came on the heels of his acquittal following a seven-year trial on…

Sierra Leone has stepped into the spotlight as the newest African country accepting migrants deported from the United States amid President Donald Trump's stringent measures on illegal immigration. A charter flight transporting nine West African nationals touched down near Freetown. This group comprises individuals from five different nations, specifically two from Guinea, one each from Nigeria and Senegal, and the remainder hailing from Ghana. The United States has previously facilitated the deportation of individuals to…

After coordinated protests by the anti-immigrant group March and March targeting undocumented migrants in Pretoria, Johannesburg, and Durban, Human Rights Watch urged South African authorities to act decisively. South Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch Nomathamsanqa Masiko-Mpaka said authorities "should intensify efforts to address anti-immigrant sentiments and violence to ensure the safety and protection of at-risk foreign nationals in the country," calling for stronger measures to curb hostility and safeguard…

A sweeping political declaration endorsed by 46 member states of the Council of Europe, the Strasbourg-based human rights body, could shape the way judges approach some of Europe’s most contested migration cases. Ireland is among the countries to back the declaration, which zeroes in on the deportation of criminals and the handling of asylum claims. It says that while migrants’ fundamental rights and freedoms “must be respected and protected in accordance with the principle of non-discrimination”, national governments retain…

Migration has emerged as a pivotal issue both in Africa and globally, fueled by factors such as conflict, job scarcity, economic disparities, unstable governance, environmental challenges, and the universal human pursuit of improved living conditions. While the phenomenon of migration is longstanding, the resulting tensions have escalated into more perilous and politically fraught confrontations. Recent xenophobic incidents in South Africa serve as a stark reminder that hostility toward foreign nationals can never be…

President Cyril Ramaphosa has signaled a firm response to unrest, with his spokesperson saying he expects law enforcement to act against violent demonstrators, while stressing that South Africans are not xenophobic, as protests against undocumented immigrants spread across several major cities in South Africa.

Echoing through the streets of Johannesburg and Pretoria, wave after wave of self-styled civic groups has marched in recent years with near-identical grievances. The banners and leaders may rotate, and the slogans get a fresh coat of paint, yet the refrain rarely shifts. From Operation Dudula to the more recent Put South Africans First, along with the Fiyela Movement, the All Truck Drivers Foundation, and several predecessors, the pattern endures. The labels evolve; the message persists, writes Jan Bornman for Our City News…

Fifteen Latin American migrants have become the first group deported by the United States to the Democratic Republic of Congo, landing in Kinshasa under a contentious third-country removal program. On arrival, they described feeling fearful and uncertain about what awaits them. The group—nationals of Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru—is being accommodated at Venus Village, a dilapidated hotel complex on the outskirts of the capital. They received one-week entry visas at the airport and now face a stark choice: arrange travel back…

Ghana’s Foreign Minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has lodged a formal protest with his South African counterpart after widely shared videos purportedly showing xenophobic assaults on Ghanaian nationals sparked outrage online. Calling the footage “extremely disturbing,” Ablakwa pressed South African authorities to act swiftly. “The South African Foreign Minister has expressed empathy with the victims and promised full-scale investigations into these depressing incidents,” Ablakwa said on social media. He added that…

Washington is weighing a plan to move roughly 1,100 Afghan evacuees from a former U.S. base in Qatar to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to AfghanEvac, an advocacy coalition. The evacuees—interpreters, former Afghan commandos, and relatives of personnel tied to the United States—were airlifted out after the 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. AfghanEvac has sharply criticized the idea, alleging that U.S. officials intend to steer the group back toward Taliban-ruled Afghanistan by trying to "manufacture a…