The Department of International Relations and Cooperation says the 49th Ordinary Session of the African Union’s Executive Council has taken a decision not to discuss migration at the upcoming mid-term review meeting.
It says Pretoria reaffirms its support for the long-standing decision of the AU to convene a continent-wide conference on migration.
The 25th AU Assembly held in Johannesburg in 2015 called for an African migration conference to discuss, among others, approaches to accelerate mobility and development within the continent while also addressing the challenges posed by increased irregular migration.
“We did engage with the chair, and we are very clear that the debate, if it does happen it must happen in line with the resolution of 2015, a comprehensive discussion on migration. The pull and push factors of migration because if you just call and say it is South Africa, South Africa will be in a box, we will be forced to defend ourselves and to the fact that this is double standards because this is happening across the continent, why single out one country,” says International Relations Minister, Ronald Lamola.
VIDEO | The 49th Ordinary Session of the AU has called for unity in the continent:
