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

Author: Katherine Luongo

This compelling book looks at how immigration systems in Canada, Australia, and the UK have responded to witchcraft-related violence claims from African asylum seekers over the past two decades. By intersecting anthropological, historical, legal, and human rights perspectives, it offers fresh insights into extrajudicial violence and global migration.

Focusing on witchcraft-based asylum cases, the author argues that the growing acceptance of persecution claims related to cultural beliefs marks a significant shift in refugee protection under the UN Refugee Convention. The work critically examines how witchcraft beliefs continue to drive violence today and illuminates the challenges of legal pluralism and cultural relativism in asylum processes.

An essential read for students and researchers in legal anthropology, African studies, human rights, migration law, and the anthropology of witchcraft.