African Witchcraft and Global Asylum-Seeking: Border-Crossing Beliefs

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By: Katherine Luongo

This book analyzes how over the last two decades, immigration regimes in three, primary refugee-receiving states in the Global North – Canada, Australia, and the UK – have engaged with allegations about witchcraft-driven violence made by asylum seekers coming from Anglophone countries across the African continent.

The work intervenes at the nexus of anthropological, historical, legal, developmental, and human rights literatures to offer fresh insights into extrajudicial violence and global migration. Taking witchcraft-based asylum cases as its focal point, it argues that the recent, dramatic expansion in claims to refugee protection under the “particular social group” category of the 1951 UN Refugee Convention reflects immigration authorities’ increasing willingness to consider how legally recognizable persecution can derive from cultural practices and beliefs. Reflecting critically on such cases, it advances understandings of how witchcraft beliefs and practices have persisted as significant engines of violence in the contemporary world. It sheds light both on the limits of legal pluralism and cultural relativism in asylum adjudication and on how social scientific expertise contributes not simply to the flow of ideas, but also to the channelling of people across national, cultural, and epistemological boundaries.

The book will be essential reading for students and researchers in legal anthropology, African studies, human rights, transnational history, migration and refugee law and policy, and the history and anthropology of witchcraft.

"Explore how witchcraft-related violence influences African asylum seekers' experiences within global immigration systems in this comprehensive legal and cultural analysis. The book delves into the intersection of migration law, cultural beliefs, and human rights, focusing on how asylum seekers from Anglophone African countries face persecution related to witchcraft. Through detailed case studies and legal perspectives, it uncovers the challenges asylum seekers face while navigating immigration systems in Canada, the UK, and Australia. This in-depth study offers fresh insights into the intersection of law, culture, and the fight for refugee protection in a globalized world."

Biography

Katherine Angela Luongo is Associate Professor of History and International Affairs, Northeastern University, Boston, USA.

 

Contents:

1. – Sanctuary-Seeking in a World with Witchcraft
   2. – Supernatural States and the Absence of Protection: A Legal Genealogy of Witchcraft Violence
   3. – Conflicting Codes and Disputed Dangers: Refugee Status Determination in Canada, the UK, and Australia
   4. – Cognizance, Credulity, and Case Law
   5. – Witchcraft as a Push Factor
   Epilogue – When Witchcraft Migrates

 

Keywords: Witchcraft asylum, refugee law, African migration, cultural persecution, legal anthropology

Target Audience: Legal scholars, anthropologists, human rights advocates, migration policy experts, African studies researchers

Genre: Legal studies, Anthropology, Human rights, Migration studies, African studies

1. International Network Against Witchcraft Accusations and Ritual Abuse

This organization connects various groups worldwide to raise awareness about human rights abuses stemming from beliefs in witchcraft or sorcery.

 

2. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

UNHCR is dedicated to protecting the rights and well-being of refugees, including those fleeing due to persecution related to witchcraft accusations.

 

3. Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)

OHCHR addresses human rights violations, including those arising from witchcraft beliefs and practices.

 

4. Refugees International

This organization advocates for lifesaving assistance and protection for displaced people, including those affected by witchcraft-related violence.

 

5. International Organization for Migration (IOM)

IOM provides emergency and humanitarian assistance to migrants and displaced individuals, including those fleeing witchcraft-related violence.

 

6. International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP)

IRAP offers free legal services to refugees worldwide, assisting those seeking asylum due to persecution, including witchcraft accusations.

 

7. International Rescue Committee (IRC)

The IRC helps people affected by conflict and disaster, including those fleeing witchcraft-related violence, to survive and rebuild their lives.

 

8. Human Rights Watch

This organization investigates and reports on human rights abuses globally, including those related to witchcraft accusations.

9. Amnesty International

Amnesty International focuses on human rights violations worldwide, advocating for those persecuted due to witchcraft allegations.