Xenophobia in South Africa: Freiburg Afro-Diaspora Dialogue on Migration & Belonging

This event brings together African voices from diverse countries - all residing in Freiburg - to reflect on the recurring violence against immigrants in South Africa and to explore what these dynamics reveal about migration, belonging, and community coexistence. Rather than treating South Africa as a distant case, the dialogue uses it as a starting point for a broader conversation: How do tensions between newcomers and established societies arise? Who fuels them? And where do solidarity, mutual support, and shared interests emerge?

Participants will gain insight into migration discourses elsewhere on the continent while collectively debating what translates into - and what can be learned for - Freiburg's local context. The event offers a rare opportunity to learn from African perspectives on migration and belonging, and to apply those lessons to our shared city. This platform creates a respectful space for exchange that prioritizes understanding over blame, and that values both African expertise and local knowledge of Freiburg. The discussion is held in English but the organizers welcome different languages.

The speakers are Genevieve Buck, Kingsley Asogwa, Tebogo Bodibe-Deppe and Joseph Okello Maurice moderated by Edwin Mutyenyoka.

The event is co-organized by Khathutshelo Muthivhi, Johanna Dangel (zusammen leben e.V.) and Edwin Mutyenyoka, migration researcher affiliated with the PolMig Project at the Arnold Bergstraesser-Institut (ABI).