“When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not oppress them. The foreigner will be treated as your fellow citizen; love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt” (Lev. 19:33-34).
IMBISA expresses its discontent and repudiation of the acts of xenophobia being perpetrated against foreign residents and migrant refugees in South Africa.
According to Pope Francis in his message for the 110th World Day of Migrants and Refugees in 2025, “the encounter with the migrant… is also an encounter with Christ.”
Therefore, sensitized by these words of the Pope and in line with the fundamental rights and guarantees provided for in the Constitutions of the SADC member states, in the defense and guarantee of access to the fundamental rights of foreign residents or migrant refugees, IMBISA emphasizes that acts of xenophobia perpetrated against migrants violate the dignity of the human person, fundamental rights, and the basic principles of democratic states governed by the rule of law.
IMBISA also calls upon public authorities and civil society to adopt a welcoming, respectful, and accountable stance towards xenophobic practices, contributing to the construction of a more humane, peaceful, inclusive society committed to the dignity of all people in the region.