South Africa sending 586 Nigerians back and I have mixed feelings

See ehn, I just saw this news about South Africa saying they are repatriating 586 Nigerians over irregular immigration. My first reaction was anger, I won't lie. All this xenophobia nonsense again. But then I sat down and thought about it properly.

I have helped too many people with UK visa applications to not know that some of our people are genuinely there illegally. Not all of them sha, but some. The thing is, when you go to another country without proper papers, you are at their mercy. South Africa or UK or anywhere. I tell my younger ones who call me asking about japa, abeg sort out your documents first. Don't be part of the statistics that make us look bad.

At the same time, I remember 2019 when they were killing our people in those xenophobia attacks. My cousin was in Johannesburg then, I couldn't sleep for weeks. So I understand both sides. The question is, how many of these 586 people are genuinely innocent and just got caught up in the system? And how many went there knowing their papers were not correct? I don't have the answer, but it makes me think twice before judging.