South Africa to Charge Nigeria and Other Countries for Deporting Their Nationals

South Africa has plans to start charging other countries for the costs of deporting their citizens who break immigration laws.

This decision comes as the country increases efforts to control undocumented migrants and faces rising anti-immigration feelings. This has led to the repatriation of many African nationals, including Nigerians and Ghanaians, back to their homes.

The Department of International Relations and Cooperation shared this policy. They mentioned that the government would seek to recover expenses from foreign governments for detaining and deporting their nationals. A report from Channel Africa on June 9 did not specify when this announcement was made.

South African officials revealed that over 100,000 undocumented migrants have been deported in the last two years, putting a heavy financial load on the government.

Countries to Bear Deportation Costs

South African authorities explained that if a country's citizens break immigration laws, that government will have to pay for their return.

"Moving forward, we will also be billing countries for their foreign nationals who have to be deported or who are in our criminal detention facilities and have to be deported back into their countries," the department stated.

"At least now we can see that there’s capacity for countries to extract the foreign nationals who have fallen foul of the law. That’s something that, through the Department of Home Affairs, we will pursue as a government," they added.

The announcement comes after several African governments have recently evacuated their citizens from South Africa due to fears of violence.

The first group of 258 Nigerians evacuated from South Africa arrived in Lagos on Wednesday. This was part of a federal government-coordinated repatriation effort. Ghana also evacuated about 1,000 of its citizens recently. Reports say that other African countries are also helping their nationals return home.

Immigration Crackdown

This cost-recovery plan is part of broader efforts by President Cyril Ramaphosa’s administration to strengthen immigration laws.

In a national speech on migration, Mr. Ramaphosa stated that government bodies will work harder to find and deport undocumented foreigners living illegally in South Africa, according to the BBC.

"I must make it clear that only the authorised government officials may act against violations of the law, including violations of our immigration laws," the president said.

South African authorities argue that enforcing immigration laws is a matter of national interest. They have often defended deportations as both lawful and necessary.

This new policy is likely to start conversations among African nations about managing migration, diplomatic ties, and the costs of deportation.