South Africa has announced plans to begin charging foreign governments for the cost of deporting their citizens who violate the country’s immigration laws.The move comes amid a renewed crackdown on undocumented migrants and rising anti-immigration sentiment, which has led to the repatriation of hundreds of African nationals, including Nigerians and Ghanaians.
The policy was disclosed by the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, which said the government intends to recover expenses incurred in detaining and deporting foreign nationals. According to South African authorities, more than 100,000 undocumented migrants have been deported over the past two years, creating a significant financial burden on the state.
Officials explained that countries whose citizens violate South Africa’s immigration laws would now be expected to cover the costs of their repatriation.“Moving forward, we will also be billing countries for their foreign nationals who have to be deported or who are in our criminal detention facilities and have to be deported back into their countries,” the department stated.
“At least now we can see that there’s capacity for countries to extract the foreign nationals who have fallen foul of the law. That’s something that, through the Department of Home Affairs, we will pursue as a government,” it added.The announcement follows recent evacuation and repatriation efforts by several African countries amid growing concerns among their citizens living in South Africa.
The first batch of 258 Nigerians evacuated from South Africa arrived in Lagos on Wednesday as part of a federal government-coordinated repatriation programme, while Ghana recently evacuated about 1,000 of its citizens. Other African nations have also facilitated the return of their nationals. The proposed cost-recovery measure forms part of broader efforts by the administration of President Cyril Ramaphosa to strengthen immigration enforcement.
In a national address on migration, Ramaphosa said government agencies would intensify efforts to identify and deport undocumented foreign nationals residing illegally in the country. “I must make it clear that only the authorised government officials may act against violations of the law, including violations of our immigration laws,” the president said. South African authorities have maintained that enforcing immigration laws is a matter of national sovereignty and continue to defend deportations as lawful and necessary. The new policy is expected to spark discussions among African governments over migration management, diplomatic relations and the financial implications of deportation.
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