ABSTRACT
This chapter highlights the various ways in which the National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) of the African region have engaged in the promotion and protection of asylum seekers' rights, as well as to allude to recent developments at the international level that may provide new ways for the entities to engage with the issue of the rights of asylum seekers further. It examines the concept of NHRIs and then describes the specifics of African NHRIs. The chapter explores how the NHRIs of the region have engaged with the issues surrounding asylum seekers' rights through their work on legislation, policy shaping, examining conditions of detention and strategic litigation. It also explores the potential that the coming into force of the Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention against Torture (OPCAT) holds in strengthening the engagement of African NHRIs with asylum seekers' issues.
