First 300 Ghanaians return from S.Africa after xenophobic tensions

The first flight of Ghanaian nationals evacuated from South Africa over anti-immigrant tensions landed in Accra on Wednesday, greeted by the foreign minister and patriotic songs blasted over the airport speakers.

Some 800 Ghanaians in total are expected to leave South Africa after Accra organised repatriation flights in response to a wave of protests and violence targeting both documented and undocumented foreigners in the country.

"It has never been easy for us in South Africa over the past few weeks," Victor Atsu Togbe, one of the roughly 300 returnees who landed Wednesday afternoon, told AFP at the airport.

"We want to thank the Ghanaian government for taking us out of the lion's den."

South Africa, the continent's most industrialised economy, has long been a destination for both legal and undocumented African workers.

But saddled with an unemployment rate of over 30 percent, it has seen repeated spurts of xenophobic protests -- including renewed violence in recent weeks.

A viral video showing the alleged assault of a Ghanaian man triggered outrage as it circulated widely on social media.

"Wherever Ghanaians are, we will make sure you are protected," Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa said upon greeting the returnees at the airport.

On the flight were 26 people who had been jailed by South African authorities over visa violations, he added.

South Africa's Border Management Authority said about 90 percent of the travellers were undocumented, with "most" having overstayed a visa by more than 30 days "whilst some overstayed by a year or more."

Ghana's High Commissioner in South Africa however has criticised South African authorities for backlogs in immigration processing for those seeking to renew their permits.

Ablakwa reiterated government promises for psycho-social support and financial reintegration packages for the returnees.

"If you mess around with Ghanaians anywhere in the world, thinking that they are orphaned or nobody cares about them, you are mistaken," he said.

- Door-to-door threats -

The latest tensions have revived uncomfortable debates across Africa about xenophobia, migration and the gap between pan-African rhetoric and realities facing migration on the continent.

An ultimatum by one citizen-led group for illegal migrants to be expelled by June 30 has raised fears of violence after bouts of anti-immigrant unrest in the past that claimed dozens of lives.

Earlier this month, several hundred people from countries including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Somalia sought protection in the eastern port city of Durban, saying locals were going door-to-door to tell them to leave by that date.

The South African government has said it is stepping up enforcement against undocumented immigrants but urged citizens not to take matters into their own hands.

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.