ACCRA, Ghana — Ghana has postponed the evacuation of more than 800 of its citizens from South Africa after legal clearance procedures and logistical challenges delayed the operation amid renewed xenophobic tensions.
The move follows widespread outrage over a viral video allegedly showing the assault of Emmanuel Asamoah, a Ghanaian national living in South Africa. The footage circulated widely on social media during the latest wave of violence targeting foreign nationals.
Ghana’s Foreign Affairs Ministry had announced earlier this month that it would begin evacuating citizens on Thursday. However, authorities said the process had been pushed back by several days.
“Considering the numbers involved and the South African legal conditions that have to be met, including mandatory passenger screening, multi-institutional coordination, and flight permits, the planned evacuation has been deferred by a few days,” the ministry said in a statement.
The ministry added that officials from Ghana and South Africa had agreed to speed up the process to facilitate the return of affected citizens.
AFP journalists at O.R. Tambo International Airport reported that only one Ghanaian arrived at the airport on Thursday for the planned evacuation flight.
The Ghanaian government has promised evacuees financial reintegration support and psycho-social assistance upon their return.
The latest developments have reignited debate across Africa over xenophobia, migration, and the treatment of African migrants within the continent. The incidents have also exposed growing concerns over the gap between pan-African ideals and the realities faced by migrants in several African states.
Ghana has increasingly pushed for the issue to receive broader continental attention. The government argues that recurring attacks on African migrants threaten regional integration efforts and free movement goals under the African Union and the African Continental Free Trade Area.
Earlier this month, Ghana’s foreign minister formally petitioned for xenophobic attacks in South Africa to be included on the agenda of the African Union’s mid-year meeting scheduled for next month.
Meanwhile, Cyril Ramaphosa sought to reassure African countries, saying “opportunists” were behind the anti-immigrant attacks.
“There is no place in South Africa for xenophobia, ethnic mobilisation, intolerance or violence,” Ramaphosa said last week.
Asamoah, whose assault was captured in the viral video, has since returned safely to Ghana.
