The arrival of 153 Palestinians in South Africa has raised suspicions about deportations from Gaza and the West Bank. Minister Lamola draws attention to wider contexts.
- Palestinians arrive in South Africa without official stamps.
- The minister criticizes the suspicious circumstances of the arrival and departure of Palestinians.
- The President authorized a 90-day visa stay for an exception.
The arrival of 153 Palestinians in South Africa was suspicious, according to the country’s foreign minister, Ronald Lamola, and indicated a clear intention to expel Palestinians from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. TASR informs about it according to the report of the AFP agency.
“As the South African government, we are suspicious of the circumstances of the plane’s arrival,” the minister said. The plane carrying the Palestinians landed at the Johannesburg airport on Thursday without the stamps in their passports confirming their departure from Israel. According to The Guardian, they didn’t even have return tickets or information about accommodation. None of these Palestinians even applied for asylum.
Government response
Border police let the group board the plane 12 hours after arrival, after which President Cyril Ramaphosa allowed them to enter the country on a 90-day visa waiver.
Gift of the Givers, a charity that helps Palestinians, said the same incident had already occurred on October 28, when a plane with 176 Palestinians on board arrived in South Africa. The al-Majd organization was allegedly responsible for the departure of both groups from Gaza.
A tougher stance
“We don’t want any more flights coming into our country, because this is a clear intention to drive the Palestinians out of Gaza and the West Bank and those areas, which the Republic of South Africa does not agree with,” Lamola said. He stated that this action seems to represent a broader intention to move Palestinians from Palestine to many parts of the world.
