A plane carrying 300 Ghanaian nationals evacuated from South Africa due to anti-immigration protests has landed in Accra.
The group, which included women and children, arrived at the airport in Ghana’s capital on Wednesday. Authorities described their evacuation as a voluntary repatriation process for Ghanaian citizens who no longer feel safe in South Africa amid rising xenophobia that has left migrants facing harassment, job losses and violence.
South Africa has worked with Ghanaian authorities on a list of approximately 800 people who had indicated they want to leave, as a wave of anti-immigration protests has seen campaigners demanding tighter controls on “undocumented migrants,” and accusing foreigners of contributing to crime and unemployment.
“Wherever Ghanaians are, we will make sure you are protected,” Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa said as he greeted the group at the airport.
South Africa’s Border Management Authority said about 90 percent of Wednesday’s travellers were undocumented, with “most” having overstayed a visa by more than 30 days and “some” by a year or more.
Ghana’s high commissioner to South Africa, Benjamin Quashie, however, has criticised South African authorities for backlogs in immigration processing for those seeking to renew their permits.
The anti-immigrant protests have been accompanied by instances of violence against migrants from other sub-Saharan African countries.
One Ghanaian said repeated harassment had driven his decision to leave.
“I’m happy that I’m going to my country … it’s not easy to be in someone else’s country and be disturbed all the time,” he told the Reuters news agency.
“It has never been easy for us in South Africa over the past few weeks,” Victor Atsu Togbe, another of the 300 returnees, told the AFP news agency.
“We want to thank the Ghanaian government for taking us out of the lion’s den.”
Migrant rights groups say they are being scapegoated by South Africans, who blame them for the country’s economic problems, specifically high unemployment, which hovers at more than 30 percent and disproportionately affects the Black population.
Quashie said the departures were part of efforts to ease tensions while preserving strong diplomatic ties between the two countries.
“The demonstrators have said they want us to work together. We must ensure that those who are undocumented are returned home and that institutions are allowed to function,” the high commissioner said, dismissing speculation of a diplomatic rift with South Africa.
South African authorities have condemned violence against foreign nationals and pledged to crack down on xenophobic attacks, saying such acts have no place in the country’s constitutional democracy.
