Benjamin Quashie, Ghana’s High Commissioner to South Africa, has refuted assertions made by South African immigration authorities that only a small number of the Ghanaians who were evacuated were legitimate residents of the nation.
His remarks come after the first group of Ghanaian evacuees landed in Accra on Wednesday, May 27, as part of a government-coordinated evacuation effort spurred by growing xenophobia and safety worries in South Africa.
Speaking on Thursday, May 28, on Citi FM’s Eyewitness News, Mr Quashie said that most of the 300 Ghanaians who had been presented for the first evacuation had valid immigration papers.
He stated, “Let me state for the record that 80% of the 300 individuals that we submitted for the first repatriation have documents that were legitimate and legal, so they were legal immigrants in South Africa.”
Stephen van Neel, the Head of Immigration and Law Enforcement for South Africa, told reporters at OR Tambo International Airport that only 10 of the nearly 300 Ghanaians on the evacuation list were legally resident in the nation, which is in stark contrast to his remarks.
Van Neel added that the authorities were looking into widespread immigration violations and thinking about penalties and said, “We only found ten of the 300 individuals who were on that list to be legal in the country.”
The different stories have raised more questions about the legal standing of some of the returnees and the general circumstances surrounding the evacuation operation.
However, Mr. Quashie insisted that many of the displaced chose to voluntarily go back to their homes because of rising worries about their protection in the face of rising anti-immigration feelings in South Africa.
In addition, he stated that the evacuation procedure is ongoing, and that between Thursday and Wednesday of next week, another group of around 500 Ghanaians is anticipated to return home.
“I know that the remaining 500 of our compatriots will return home between now and next week’s Wednesday,” he said.
Following increasing hostility toward foreign nationals and fears about xenophobic attacks, over 800 Ghanaians are believed to have applied for voluntary evacuation.
The government’s attempts to guarantee the safety of Ghanaian citizens residing in South Africa include the repatriation exercise, which Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa announced earlier this month.
The government has promised assistance with reintegration, transportation, psychosocial therapy, and access to initiatives for startup support and employment for returnees.
On Wednesday, a government delegation headed by Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa and Chief of Staff Julius Debrah welcomed the first group of evacuees at Kotoka International Airport.
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