Malawians repatriated from South Africa amid xenophobia concerns

A group of 171 Malawians repatriated from South Africa amid growing worries about xenophobia arrived in their home country on Tuesday, Malawi’s government has said. The repatriation follows violence in South Africa’s Western Cape Province where there were reports just over a week ago of door-to-door intimidation,as well as the deaths of two Mozambicans in Mossel Bay. The Malawians were “among a number of foreign nationals” who had “sought refuge in temporary camps” in Mossel Bay, according to a statement from Lilongwe.

Ghana, Nigeria and Zimbabwe have also organised repatriation flights and transport after raising concerns about xenophobia in South Africa. Images shared on X by Malawi’s governmenton Tuesday show a long line of people queuing in an empty stadium. They appear to be waiting to be registered.

The government, which had earlier said the returnees would be arriving on Monday, described them as the first group of nationals displaced in the Western Cape to come back home through a “voluntary repatriation exercise”. They included 115 men, 43 women and 13 children, officials said. In South Africa, anti-migrant groups are demanding undocumented migrants leave the country – and have set 30 June as a deadline.

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In a national address on Sundayaimed at easing tensions, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a raft of new measures to crackdown on illegal migration. But he also warned South Africans not to take the law into their own hands. He said there was “no space for xenophobia, racism, sexism, Afrophobia or any other forms of intolerance” in the country.

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