Protesters take part in a march organised by civil society groups in South Kivu to demand peace and dialogue in Bukavu on December 23, 2025. [AFP] Ethnic profiling is a grave threat to peace and stability in Africa, particularly in East and Southern Africa, where history has repeatedly shown how quickly identity-based politics can spiral into violence. When states define citizenship, security or political loyalty through ethnic lenses, they risk entrenching exclusion, legitimizing discrimination, and turning diversity into a fault line for conflict. The tragic experiences of Rwanda’s genocide against the Tutsi and the recurring cycles of ethnic violence in…