Dr Jean Pierre Misago (Senior Researcher and Co-Director, ACMS) observed at the University Johannesburg‘s CICLASS conference on xenophobia (26–27 March 2026), that xenophobic discrimination is rising despite years of intervention, driven by governance failures, restrictive migration laws, and a political economy that rewards exclusion. He called for a shift from changing attitudes to protecting rights and for accountability where xenophobic acts go unpunished.
Dr Pablo Ceriani Cernadas shared Latin America’s model of multi-stakeholder alliances that affirm migration as a human right, noting that legal reform alone is insufficient.
Prof Loren Landau guided the conversation, exploring how shifting politics shape migration dynamics.
