Nigerian nationals repatriated from South Africa amid anti-immigrant tensions
JOHANNESBURG — Nigerian nationals fleeing the wave of anti-immigrant tensions sweeping South Africa arrived at Johannesburg’s O.R. Tambo International Airport on Wednesday for repatriation, according to reports. The move comes as Nigeria says it will repatriate more than 1,000 of its nationals from South Africa, with screening for the voluntary repatriation scheme starting on Thursday, a spokesperson for the foreign ministry told reporters.
For weeks, groups armed with sticks, whips and shields have marched through parts of the country demanding that foreigners without papers leave by the end of the month. The atmosphere has become so tense that Nigerian Consul General in South Africa, Ninikanwa Okey-Uche, described the situation: “You are walking on the streets and a fellow citizen can stop you and ask for your papers. People have been harmed, businesses have been looted so basically the opportunity has been presented, come home.”
This isn’t the first time South Africa has turned on its migrant population. In 2008, more than 60 people were killed in what rights groups have called xenophobic attacks on foreigners. Since then, anti-migrant riots and protests have continued to occur. Nigerian national Ona Charles, who has been in South Africa for 14 years, said: “The experience that I have here in South Africa is terrible. I am 14 years here in South Africa since going up and down, up and down, not stable. So I rather give up for me to go home with my life than going home with injuries.”
Nigerians and other foreigners being repatriated will be barred from returning to South Africa for several years, an immigration official explained: “(We) put them on a stop list, so they will all be declared what we call 'undesirable', it's provided for in the immigration act and when we declare them undesirable obviously it will be about a five year ban before they can come back to South Africa.”
The repatriation comes after Ghana recently helped hundreds of its citizens leave South Africa in response to a wave of protests and violence targeting foreigners. Nigeria’s High Commission in Pretoria said in a communique dated Tuesday that it had “negotiated waivers with host authorities” so that those with “immigration-related offences” would be allowed to leave on the eventual repatriation flights rather than be detained.
One of the continent’s most industrialised nations, South Africa has long attracted workers from across the region. But now with an unemployment rate of more than 30 percent, it has seen repeated bursts of xenophobic protests — including renewed violence in recent weeks. An ultimatum by one citizen-led group for illegal migrants to be expelled by June 30 has raised fears of violence after bouts of anti-immigrant unrest in the past that claimed dozens of lives. The South African government has said it is stepping up enforcement against undocumented immigrants but urged citizens not to take matters into their own hands. There are more than three million foreigners living in South Africa, or 5.1 percent of the population, according to the statistics agency.