Hundreds queue at embassies as repatriation demand outstrips capacity

Crowds have gathered outside several embassies in Pretoria and Johannesburg as foreign nationals wait for repatriation amid rising demand that missions and aid groups say they are struggling to meet.

Waiting on the pavement

Braving cold conditions, Nigerians were reported sleeping on the pavement in front of their embassy in Pretoria as they waited to return to their home country after the March and March national anti-migrant protests on 30 June. Traffic cones were used to cordon off a section of road where a group sat and pleaded for assistance.

“Please, we need help,”

said one man, who said he fled from Ladysmith and has been living in South Africa for 15 years.

“We need another flight to go home; we don’t have anywhere to stay because they told us to go.”

Another person appealed for support for women and children. One person said,

“We are sleeping in the street. Some good Samaritans have brought us food, not the embassy.”

Aid groups step in while tensions rise

At the Malawi high commission in Pretoria, queues formed for food and medical supplies. Josef Mustafa from the Institute for Islamic Services said the number needing assistance has grown.

“In the beginning there was an average of 200 to feed, then 400 – and now about 500, especially when buses don’t come. It takes the buses three days to fetch people, and only 65 and 70 fit on a bus,”

he said.

The institute provides meals, winter essentials and medical supplies. Mustafa said forced removals were continuing and described a recurring pattern:

“On Fridays we expect a large number going into the weekends. It is the pattern we are seeing.”

Missions struggle to keep up

One staff member at the Malawian high commission, who spoke anonymously, said buses are collecting people daily but are not keeping pace with arrivals.

“On Wednesday there were four buses. Every day there are more buses coming in, with up to 300 people a day. Last week, we had more than 500 people fleeing here because there was a door-to-door march in their location,”

she said. She added that people have been coming from areas as far as Mpumalanga.

Children and medical concerns

Two doctors, who declined to be identified, handed out medical supplies to foreign nationals. They expressed concern about more than 40 children who had to sleep in the embassy basement in cold weather.

“They are in need,”

one of the doctors said.

Government figures

Justice and Constitutional Development Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi said South Africa has deported and repatriated more than 50 000 foreign nationals in recent weeks, as authorities step up migration management amid public concern and regional tension.