Ghana raps South Africa over ‘xenophobic incidents’
Ghana summoned SA's envoy over "xenophobic incidents", including one in which a legal Ghanaian migrant was asked to return home and "fix his country".
Ghana summoned South Africa’s envoy over several “xenophobic incidents”, including one in which a legal Ghanaian migrant was asked to return home and “fix his country”.
South Africa, the continent’s most industrialised economy, has long been a destination for both legal and undocumented African workers.
Unemployment
But now saddled with an unemployment rate of over 30 percent, it has seen repeated spurts of xenophobic and anti-migrant protests, and occasionally violence.
Videos online have circulated in recent days showing Ghanaians and other migrants being harassed.
South Africa’s acting police minister condemned the incidents on Friday, saying attacks on foreign nationals were “unlawful” and violated the country’s constitutional values of dignity and equality.
“Acts of xenophobia, violence, looting, or intimidation will not be tolerated under any circumstances,” Firoz Cachalia said in a statement, adding that police have “been instructed to act decisively and without hesitation in addressing these incidents”.
‘Escalating tensions’
Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa spoke of an incident in the southeastern KwaZulu-Natal province in which a Ghanaian, “a legal resident was confronted… (and) instructed to leave South Africa and ‘fix his country'”, the foreign ministry said in a statement late on Thursday.
It also further warned of “escalating tensions, with foreign nationals, including Ghanaians, being advised to remain indoors for their safety”.
In his meeting with South Africa’s acting high commissioner Thando Dalamba, Ablakwa “underscored… Ghana’s support for the anti-apartheid struggle” and “emphasised that the unprovoked harassment and attacks on law-abiding individuals are contrary to the principles of African solidarity”.
There are more than three million foreigners living in South Africa, or 5.1 percent of the population, according to the statistics agency.
More than 63 percent come from countries in the 16-member Southern African Development Community (SADC) bloc.
In January, South Africa’s border management agency said it had intercepted more than 530 000 people attempting to enter the country illegally since July 2022.
By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse
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