'They saved me from hell': 422 Kenyans repatriated from South Africa as returnees recount ordeal

At least 422 Kenyans have so far been repatriated from South Africa, with another group of 50 expected to arrive on Thursday night in an evacuation exercise launched on June 30 amid a wave of xenophobic attacks.

On Wednesday night, a batch of 80 returnees touched down in the country, the largest single group to arrive since the operation began.

The Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs stated that it is continuously monitoring the situation to determine when the evacuation effort can be brought to a close.

Meanwhile, thousands of other African migrants have also been forced to flee South Africa as protests targeting undocumented foreign nationals continue. 

Margaret walked through the arrivals terminal at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) on Wednesday night carrying just a few bags, the only possessions she could salvage after 13 years of building a life in South Africa.

For more than a decade, she worked as a house manager, sold insurance and even ran her own business, all to provide for her husband and eight children back home in Kenya.

But as xenophobic attacks and anti-migrant protests escalated across parts of South Africa, she was forced to abandon the life she had built and return home with little more than what she could carry.

"They beat us badly. They took everything from my house. We were even in hiding. They would come to your house, take everything and say it belongs to South Africa, that it belongs to the Zulus," she stated.

Margaret is among the latest group of 80 Kenyans evacuated by the government, many returning home with stories of pain and frustration after months of escalating protests against undocumented migrants in South Africa.

"I left my last-born when he was four years old. Now he is going to university, and I am taking him to KU. I don't even know where I will get the money because they all depended on me," she noted. 

"They initially said those without documents should leave, but later they said whether you had documents or not, you had to leave. That is why they gave the June 30 deadline," said a repatriated Kenyan who requested anonymity.

"They saved me from hell, that is the only way I can describe it. It is not a good place. I am grateful they brought me and my daughter back safely. Now I have to figure out how to rebuild my life because I came back with absolutely nothing," said Beryl, another Kenyan repatriated from South Africa.

The returnees accuse some South African politicians of fuelling anti-immigrant sentiment ahead of the November elections.

They also fault the African Union for what they describe as silence as thousands of African migrants face violence and displacement in the latest wave of xenophobic attacks.

"The situation is bad, very bad. That is all I can say," Beryl added.

"I have not heard the African Union speak about what is happening in South Africa or about these clashes."

Thousands of Africans have fled South Africa as tensions continue to mount. Ghana has postponed a visit by President Cyril Ramaphosa amid fears of protests, following the repatriation of hundreds of its citizens after the xenophobic attacks.