By Chengetayi Zvauya
A first group of 74 Zimbabwean citizens arrived in the country Sunday after being repatriated from South Africa due to the wave of xenophobic attacks that has shaken that country in recent months.
According to Foreign Minister Amon Murwira, the repatriated individuals arrived by bus at the Beitbridge border post, on a trip organized by the Zimbabwean embassy in Pretoria.
“The Government of Zimbabwe is closely monitoring the events taking place in South Africa, with xenophobic attacks against foreign nationals, and advises its citizens to contact our Embassy if they are in danger or wish to return home,” the minister stated.
Upon their arrival, the repatriated individuals are being cared for by the Department of Social Welfare before being reunited with their families, he explained, noting that the Zimbabwean government is in contact with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
In recent months, the South African anti-immigration movement March & March has called for protests, sometimes violent, against irregular migrants, whom it blames for the country’s economic problems, poor provision of public services, and high crime rates.
Anti-immigration groups have even demanded that certain groups of foreigners leave the country before June 30th and have gone so far as to prevent African migrants from accessing medical care and education in public facilities.
This led Ghana on May 7 to ask the African Union (AU) to address the xenophobic attacks and send an “investigation mission” to South Africa.
The tension has also spread to countries such as Guinea-Bissau and Nigeria, which summoned South African ambassadors from their territories.
The Nigerian government reported that some 130 of its citizens requested repatriation after the attacks, while at least 300 Mozambicans who suffered the attacks returned to their country on their own last week.
In addition to Zimbabwe, Ghana and Malawi have repatriated hundreds of citizens, while Kenya, Malawi and Lesotho have issued security alerts for their citizens in South Africa, whose government has condemned these attacks, although it has asserted its right to curb irregular immigration.
Xenophobic tensions are a recurring problem in the South African country that hosts almost three million foreigners, 90% of whom come from other African nations.
This situation has led to waves of violent protests, especially in the most vulnerable neighborhoods, the most serious occurring at the end of 2019, with 18 foreigners killed, according to data from the NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW).
EFE
