Ghana Welcomes First Group of Returnees Amid South Africa’s Anti-Migrant Unrest
A plane carrying 300 Ghanaian nationals evacuated from South Africa amid a wave of anti-immigrant unrest landed in Accra on Wednesday, marking the first batch of returnees under a coordinated repatriation effort.
The group, including women and children, touched down at Kotoka International Airport. Ghanaian authorities described the operation as a voluntary repatriation for citizens who no longer feel safe in South Africa, where rising xenophobia has led to harassment, job losses and violent attacks on migrants from other sub-Saharan African nations.
South Africa and Ghana have been working together on a list of roughly 800 people who have expressed a desire to leave, as protesters demand tighter controls on “undocumented migrants” and accuse foreigners of fueling crime and unemployment. The demonstrations have been accompanied by sporadic violence, with migrants reporting being targeted on the streets and in their homes.
“Wherever Ghanaians are, we will make sure you are protected,” Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa said as he greeted returnees at the airport.
South Africa’s Border Management Authority said about 90 percent of Wednesday’s arrivals were undocumented, with “most” having overstayed their visas by more than 30 days and “some” by a year or longer. But Ghana’s high commissioner to South Africa, Benjamin Quashie, criticized South African authorities for backlogs in immigration processing, saying many Ghanaians had sought to renew permits legally but were caught in bureaucratic delays.
One returnee, speaking to Reuters, 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 said.
“It has never been easy for us in South Africa over the past few weeks,” Victor Atsu Togbe, another of the 300 returnees, told AFP. “We want to thank the Ghanaian government for taking us out of the lion’s den.”
The repatriation comes against a backdrop of deep-seated economic frustration in South Africa, where unemployment hovers above 30 percent, disproportionately affecting the Black population. Migrant rights groups argue that foreign nationals are being scapegoated for structural problems, and that the protests risk inflaming long-standing tensions across the region.
Quashie said the departures were part of a broader effort to ease tensions while maintaining strong diplomatic ties. “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,” he 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, stating that such acts have no place in the country’s constitutional democracy. However, activists warn that without addressing the underlying economic grievances, tensions are likely to persist.