AI is reimagining the technology that makes modern border governance possible, such as biometrics, drones, predictive analytics and automated risk scoring already in use by several African Union (AU) member states. But just because the technology is evolving does not mean it is getting any safer for its most vulnerable users, nor does it guarantee sovereignty for the states that use it. Weak data sovereignty, biometric bias and limited oversight pose risks to privacy and refugee protection.
Jake Okechukwu Effoduh underlines three core questions:
- How do AI-driven border technologies serve AU member states’ legitimate security interests, and what risks do they pose to privacy, data protection and fundamental rights?
- How can AU member states reconcile their obligation to secure borders with their commitment to refugee protection under the 1969 Organisation of African Unity Refugee Convention?
- How might the growing deployment of border technologies reshape patterns of migration governance across the continent, including the possibility of increasingly restrictive and technologically mediated border regimes sometimes described as a Fortress Africa dynamic?
The path to rights-based AI border governance requires at least four immediate safeguards, including independent oversight with meaningful civil society participation and stronger data sovereignty protections.
