More Than 53,000 Foreigners Deported from South Africa amid Xenophobia Wave
AFRICA, 13 Jul 2026
teleSUR - TRANSCEND Media Service
Nigerian nationals evacuated from South Africa arrive at Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, Nigeria, 9 Jul 2026.
Photo: EFE/EPA/EMMANUEL ADEGBOYE
12 Jul 2026 – More than 53,000 foreigners have been processed for deportation and repatriation from South Africa, in an attempt to combat irregular migration and amid escalating tension over the wave of xenophobic attacks in recent months, the South African government reported today.
“We have continued to facilitate the return of foreigners to their countries, either through deportation or assisted voluntary repatriation,” said the Minister of Justice and chair of the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) on Migration, Mmamoloko Kubayi, at a press conference in Pretoria.
The authorities stressed that repatriation “refers to the act of returning a person to their country of origin,” while deportation “is a formal and legal process by which a government expels a foreigner from its country.”
In recent weeks and until July 11, she specified, “a total of 53,449 foreigners have been processed for deportation and repatriation, mainly Malawians (more than 80%), followed by Zimbabweans and Mozambicans.”
https://x.com/TheNamibian/status/2076292667999146126
Repatriations to countries outside Southern Africa amount to 2,615 and include 431 returns to Kenya, 1,159 to Nigeria, 86 to the Republic of Congo (DRC) and 939 to Uganda.
As of July 8, law enforcement recorded 205 cases and arrested 350 people related to intimidation, vigilantism, and migration-related crimes. Of those cases, a total of 112 are already in court.
The minister asserted that “the management of immigration, border control, deportation, and facilitated repatriation are the exclusive responsibility of the State, and no individual or group has the authority to take justice into their own hands or to intimidate, threaten, or illegally expel any person from any community.”
In this regard, the IMC condemned the illegal actions of isolated groups that, according to local media, carry out identity checks on foreign citizens in South Africa by searching homes and businesses suspected of harboring undocumented migrants.
Tension in South Africa has increased in recent months due to a wave of xenophobic attacks and anti-immigration protests, which culminated on June 30, when thousands of people took to the streets on a date that organizers had set as the deadline for undocumented immigrants to leave the country.
Go to Original – telesurenglish.net
Tags: Anti-immigration, South Africa, Xenophobia
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