Paper short abstract:

The paper examines what needs to be done in terms of advocating and lobbying necessary actions by the African Union[AU] at regional levels so that the South African government can enact new or amend existing legislation and policies that promote and protect the rights of refugees/ asylum seekers.

Paper long abstract:

Refugees and asylum seekers in South Africa are protected by international conventions, regional instruments [African Union], and South Africa's 1998 Refugee Act. However, certain factors hamper their integration and levels of support in the case of South Africa. These range from the Department of Home Affairs officials' attitude, backlog, documentation problems, discrimination and xenophobia. Due to their poor treatment, refugee/asylum seekers staged a 6-month sit-in protest in 2019 at the UNHCR.

Given this context, the paper examines what needs to be done in terms of advocating and lobbying for necessary actions by the African Union[AU] at regional levels so that the South African government can enact new or amend existing legislation and policies that promote and protect the rights of refugees/ asylum seekers.

The paper questions to what extent the AU has the power, instruments, resources and influence to compel regional countries to address the refugee crisis in their country. This research employs a content analysis approach derived from news, policy and interviews with South African local organizations working with refugees/asylum seekers.