Nigeria evacuates 268 citizens from South Africa as xenophobic attacks worsen

Nigeria has become the latest African country to evacuate its citizens from South Africa as the xenophobic attacks there continue to escalate. A flight carrying 268 Nigerians landed at Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos around 10:25 am on Thursday, June 11. These passengers are part of about 1,000 people who registered with the Nigerian consulate in South Africa to leave the country.

Nigeria's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Sola Enikanolaiye, was at the airport to welcome the returnees. He said Nigeria will not sit idle while its citizens face attack and harassment anywhere in the world. Five African countries have now begun repatriating their citizens from South Africa, including Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe, ahead of a June 30 deadline set by some campaigners for undocumented migrants to leave.

South Africa's unemployment rate is over 30%, and anti-migrant sentiments have risen sharply. Ghana's Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has called for the African Union to investigate the situation, while South Africa's Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola has accused him of spreading misinformation. Two Mozambicans recently died in Mossel Bay during attacks. What is the African Union doing while African citizens are being killed in another African country?