Abuja — Nigeria and Ghana have condemned the continuing anti-immigrant violence in South Africa and need the problem of “Afrophobia” mentioned on the subsequent African Union summit.
South Africa has been swept by weeks of protests and unrest concentrating on undocumented immigrants, inflicting tens of hundreds to flee the nation.
Almost 150,000 individuals have left in latest weeks, in keeping with an AFP tally based mostly on figures offered by African nations which have repatriated their nationals.
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On Friday, the international ministers of Ghana and Nigeria mentioned the “latest Afrophobic protests and incidents concentrating on African nationals in South Africa”, the Nigerian authorities mentioned.
“(They) condemned all types of xenophobia, Afrophobia, intolerance and violence in opposition to fellow Africans,” it mentioned.
The 2 ministers from West Africa’s largest economies have been assembly on the sidelines of a gathering of the West African financial bloc ECOWAS in Liberia.
Nigeria has evacuated 1,490 nationals from South Africa, whereas Ghana has repatriated no less than 926.
South Africa, the continent’s wealthiest nation, has lengthy been a magnet for migrants.
The ministers pressured the necessity for “pressing, coordinated regional and continental responses” to deal with the causes behind the anti-immigrant tensions.
Ghana’s Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa and Nigeria’s Sola Enikanolaiye mentioned Afrophobia must be raised on the subsequent AU summit early subsequent yr.
In Might, Ghana requested an AU debate on “xenophobic assaults” in South Africa. It was not clear if it materialised.
Earlier this month, Ghana mentioned a go to to Accra by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa had been postponed.