Ghana airlifts citizens home as xenophobia fears rise in South Africa

The first repatriation flight carrying Ghanaian nationals from South Africa landed in Accra on Wednesday. The arrival was marked by the foreign minister’s greeting and patriotic music played over the airport speakers.

In total, about 800 Ghanaians are expected to depart South Africa following Accra’s organization of repatriation flights amid a wave of protests and violence targeting both documented and undocumented foreigners in the country.

“It has never been easy for us in South Africa over the past few weeks,” said Victor Atsu Togbe, one of roughly 300 returnees who landed Wednesday afternoon, speaking to AFP at the airport.

“We want to thank the Ghanaian government for taking us out of the lion’s den.”

South Africa, the continent’s most industrialised economy, has long attracted both legal and undocumented African workers. However, with an unemployment rate above 30 percent, it has experienced repeated spikes of xenophobic protests, including recent violence.

A viral video depicting the alleged assault of a Ghanaian man sparked widespread outrage on social media.

“Wherever Ghanaians are, we will make sure you are protected,” Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa said as he welcomed the returnees at the airport.

Among those on the flight were 26 people who had been jailed by South African authorities for visa violations, he added.

South Africa’s Border Management Authority reported that about 90 percent of the travellers were undocumented, with most having overstayed a visa by more than 30 days, while some had overstayed by a year or more.

Ghana’s High Commissioner in South Africa has criticised South African authorities for backlogs in processing immigration renewals.

Ablakwa reiterated the government’s commitment to providing psycho‑social support and financial reintegration packages for the returnees.

“If you mess around with Ghanaians anywhere in the world, thinking that they are orphaned or nobody cares about them, you are mistaken,” he said. “And you are making a mess of yourself.”

– Door-to-door threats –

The recent tensions have reignited discussions across Africa about xenophobia, migration, and the disconnect between pan‑African rhetoric and the realities faced by migrants on the continent.

An ultimatum issued by a citizen‑led group demanding the expulsion of illegal migrants by June 30 has raised fears of violence, following past anti‑immigrant unrest that claimed dozens of lives.

Earlier this month, several hundred people from countries including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, and Somalia sought protection in the eastern port city of Durban, reporting that locals were going door‑to‑door to tell them to leave by that date.

The South African government has said it is intensifying enforcement against undocumented immigrants but has urged citizens not to take matters into their own hands.

According to the statistics agency, more than three million foreigners live in South Africa, representing 5.1 percent of the population. Over 63 percent of them come from countries in the 16‑member Southern African Development Community (SADC) bloc.

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